


Dirty Paint Water (SEMI-HIATUS)

by Pixelated_Scout



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Artist Larry, Dialogue Heavy, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Like, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Slow To Update, Starving artist Larry, VERY dialogue heavy lmao, adult au, smut in separate chapters, soft times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2019-10-10 15:42:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 56,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17428781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelated_Scout/pseuds/Pixelated_Scout
Summary: Larry Johnson is 24 years old and newly moved out on his own for the first time. Alone, anxious, and an overall mess, Larry finds himself desperate for friendship, food, and caffeine. Moving into a small studio apartment right above a coffee shop, Larry discovers friendships in the baristas and patrons of the shop. One particular barista sparks an inspiration in Larry that he just can't let go of... And there's just something about him he can't stop thinking about.(Hiatus until I get over my writer's block)





	1. The "Starving Artist" Stereotype.

“This is the last box…” Larry mumbled to himself, his soft voice echoing through the studio apartment. He peeled the cellophane packing tape off the box, the lid popping open with the tape’s release. Inside were some old art supplies, and a couple of shirts, along with a couple of photographs in frames. The frames were each delicately wrapped in bubble wrap, carefully packed by his mother.  
Larry could almost hear her words echoing in the back of his mind. ‘If you’re not going to organize your boxes, at least take care of what’s in them!’ His mother, Lisa, would protest. A sad smile tugged up at the corner of his mouth, feeling a bit of a punch in the gut. He felt guilty about leaving his mom like he did, considering how his father had left years prior. But now 24, it was hard to keep living at home without knowing what else was out there for him. Lisa, of course, was pleased with how much Larry was growing. Her only request was that he come back and visit her often.  
Larry unpeeled the bubble wrap from the wooden frames. He checked the glass on each one to make sure it wasn’t broken. Thankfully each piece of glass was preserved, and he sadly smiled. One photo was of him and his mom, her wrapping her arms around him as he stood in his graduation cap and gown. The other photo a picture from when he was a child, smiling as he sat in between his mother and father. He sadly stared at the photos, attempting to not let his sudden loneliness consume him.  
He stepped up from the floor, taking the photos with him. He set the frames down on a table next to the wall, and pulled a couple thumbtacks from a small box on the table. He hung up the pictures, taking a moment to step back from each one to ensure that the frames were hung straight.  
“Perfect…” He smiled, “This place is really starting to feel nice”. He looked around the studio apartment, a few posters, personal paintings and sketches hung upon the walls. In one corner, a mattress with a blanket and pillow. In another corner across from a kitchen-type area, a small television on a table with an old couch directly across from it. Then finally, a pile of ikea furniture he had yet to build...Mainly a dresser and a bed frame that came with built in drawers, but, he would get around to it when he got around to it.  
Right now what mattered, was having his easels set up. 

\--  
It was late… Or… Early? Larry pulled himself up from the floor, where his legs had began to feel numb. He’d been sitting on a sheet on the floor, leaning over a canvas and attempting to paint some sort of scene from a dream. He’d been that way for the past 7 or so hours. He stumbled slightly over to the window, pulling aside one of the heavy blackout curtains. He ripped his gaze away from the window quickly, the sudden sunlight hurting his eyes. He stood for a moment, covering his eyes with his dried paint covered arm. He slowly turned his gaze back towards the window. There was a bit of sun peeking through the clouds, but it seemed like it was still pretty early in the morning. He stretched a bit before returning to his spot on the floor. He picked up his phone, looking at the time-- 6:12 AM. He flipped open his phone, aimlessly checking for anything he’d ignored while he’d been painting.  
“Dude… What day is it even…?” He asked aloud to himself. “February 2nd, 2005” He assured himself as he read the date.  
He proceeded to draft a text message to his mom, reaching out for his cup of soda in the process. As he took a sip from the cup, he instantly spat, spitting on both his phone and his painting. He dropped his phone, a wet SLAP sound occuring.  
Larry had just accidentally drank from his paint water, and made a terrible mess in the process. He jumped up to his feet, stumbling forward and suddenly tripping on his stereo cord. He attempted to get up again, his legs still slightly asleep. He ran for the kitchen, tearing through the cabinets for paper towels.  
“Towels-- Towels!! Where. Are. The. Fucking. TOWELS?!” He yelled in a bit of a panic. He grabbed a package of unopened paper towels from the cabinet, ripping off the plastic packaging and quickly running back to the painting.  
He also forgot about that fucking stereo cord.  
Larry’s foot instantly got tangled in the cord as he ran in a hurry back to the painting, slipping forward, slamming both of his knees into the wooden floor, and slamming his forehead… Directly into the wet paint. 

Slowly, Larry peeled himself up from his painting, the wet sound of undried paint coming up with him. He looked a bit to his right, seeing that his cellphone had now become part of the painting as well. He picked up the cellphone with zero careful consideration; besides, what was he going to do, ruin the painting he’d just spent the entire night working on? Been there… Done that. 

\--  
Larry stood in the shower, just wanting the wet paint out of his hair and off his skin. He didn’t care much about the dried paint; it took too long to scrub off anyways. This wasn’t a, ‘get completely clean’ shower, this was a ‘I just moved too far from home, ruined a painting by being a dumbass, and I completely fucking hate myself and I’m too tired to function’, shower.  
Once out of the shower, Larry didn’t bother to attempt to clean up the apartment or put on clothes. He dried his hair with the towel, threw the towel down on top of his pillow, threw himself into the bed, and proceeded to take a 4 hour long depression nap. 

 

Once awake, four-something hours later, Larry rolled out of bed rather than standing. He brought himself to his knees, stood slowly and sighed. He opened the blinds again, thankfully this time not being blinded by the sun. It was raining. He nodded a bit, proceeding into the kitchen. He opened his fridge, his cupboards, drawers… And realized, he literally had nothing but soda.  
“Did I go grocery shopping high again?” He wondered aloud. “No, because if I did, I would’ve bought more shit.” He slammed all of the drawers, cupboard, and the fridge shut. He sat up on the kitchen counter, bringing his knees up to his chin. A painful hunger accumulated in his stomach. Just then, the smell of coffee had began to make its way up through his floorboards.  
Somehow, someway, Larry had forgotten that he literally lived above a coffee shop/cafe. Larry jumped off the counter, making his way to the bathroom. He threw on a pair of paint covered jeans, then made his way to a box near his bed. He pulled out a clean shirt-- making sure it was clean after sniffing it first. He threw the shirt on over his head, a faded and worn out Sanity’s Fall T-shirt from high school. Regardless of the chill and rain outside, he threw on a thin red hoodie and a pair of flip-flops. After grabbing his keys and wallet off the counter, he headed out of the apartment and made his way to the coffee shop. 

\--

In hindsight, flip flops weren’t the best. Especially not for going down the stairs in the pouring rain but… Whatever. With part of his hoodie and pant leg wet, Larry made his way into the coffee shop. Immediately the smell of warm coffee and food flooded his nose. He really, really, didn’t want to be that starving artist that drank too much coffee, but for the moment, he was willing to be that guy, except for the starving part, because… food.  
Larry approached the counter, looking up at the chalkboard of different drinks and food items on the wall. So many choices and… so many things he had no clue what they were. He decided to order the first thing his hungry brain wanted, and that was a…

“Hi! What can I get for you today?” A sweet brunette girl asked, her short hair pinned back with a few bobby pins. She looked kindly at Larry, a pen in her hand as it hovered above a notepad.  
“Oh-- Um.” Larry awkwardly paused. This was the first human interaction he’d had since 2 nights ago when he got drunk and went to the corner store to buy soda. He glanced up at the board for a moment, then back to the girl.  
“Do you guys have chocolate milk?” He asked.  
“Sure do! What size?” The barista replied.  
“Um. A regular? I don’t um…”  
“We have a small, a medium, a large or an extra large. The extra large comes with one free refill.” She listed off.  
“A medium, then.” Larry was beginning to regret his venture out of the apartment.  
“Alright! What else for you?” She jotted down the first half of his order on the note pad.  
“The um…” Larry pointed up at the chalkboard, squinting a bit. “The Chicken Mozzarella sandwich. With no vegetables, please.”  
“Alright! One chicken mozzarella sandwich, no tomatoes, onions or lettuce… Do you want the chipotle mayo?” She asked, continuing to write.  
“The what?”  
“It’s like spicy mayonnaise.”  
“Oh, fuck yeah, sure then.” Larry gave a toothy smile.  
“Alright!” The girl laughed a bit. She began to punch his total into the register. 

But before she could finish his total, a voice sounded from near the kitchen area behind the counter.  
“Ash! Back from my break.” Sounded a masculine voice, Larry looked up, seeing a person crouch with their back to ‘Ash’, beginning to fuss with some items under the counter. 

“Sounds good, Sally. I got a drink order for you in a sec, hold on.” She responded, tearing the page off the notepad and sliding it to the side of the counter. “That’ll be 8.54!” She cheerfully stated. 

Larry pulled a crumpled 10 dollar bill out of his pocket, handing it to the barista.  
“Sorry if it’s wet,” Larry rubbed the back of his neck. “I slipped on the stairs on the way down here. I didn’t realize how slippery it would be…” He laughed awkwardly. 

“No worries! Sorry you fell!” She replied while making his change. “Wait-- Are you the new tenant upstairs? You moved in like a week ago, right?”  
“Yeah, that would be me.” He admitted. “It’s been about 5 days or so but yeah. Pretty new.”  
“It’s nice to meet you then! I’m Ashley, but you can call me Ash.” She reached out her hand.  
“Oh, cool. Nice to meet you too, I’m Larry.” Instinctively, he grabbed her hand and shook it.  
Ash laughed, bringing her free hand up to her mouth to stifle her laughter. “Nice handshake! But… I’m giving you your change back.” 

Larry’s eyes widened as he quickly let go of her hand. “Oh, fuck!” He cupped his hands under hers as she dropped the change into his hands. “S-Sorry about that!” 

Ash laughed. “No worries!” 

And with that, Larry took a seat at a table. The entire coffee shop was pretty empty, except for a redheaded guy sitting in the corner by the window, tapping away at a laptop and taking notes in a notebook. Feeling a bit anxious, Larry pulled out a paper napkin from a holder and a pen from his pocket. As he waited for his food and drink, he proceeded to doodle a couple of flowers onto the napkin. But his moment of peace was disrupted by a radio fizzling on with static, and the song “This Love” by Maroon 5 coming on.  
Larry felt a bit of a smile come onto his lips as he looked over to see the two baristas dancing together in the kitchen.  
“Chocolate milk? This is my big order?” The blue haired barista asked.  
“It’s a nice break from non-fat-skinny-mocha-half-caff-lattes, right?” Ash teased as she began working on the sandwich, swaying her hips as she did. This earned a laugh from the other barista.  
Larry went back to his doodling, listening to the music and the joking of the two baristas at each other. Soon enough, his little world was disturbed by a chocolate milk and a delicious looking sandwich being placed in front of him. The barista was careful to not set it down on top of the napkin he was doodling on.  
“Anything else I can get you?”  
It wasn’t Ash this time.  
He looked up at that masculine voice, pausing for a moment. He didn’t want to stare. He found it rude to stare at anyone really but--  
He’d never seen someone so unique. He’d never heard such a voice, such an… Everything.  
“No I’m… Good.” Larry smiled up at the Barista, realizing this blue-haired beauty was actually a full on dude.  
“Cool. Let me know if you need anything!” He said, pretty happily. Before he could walk away, Larry took a sneak at his name tag.  
“Sally?” Larry couldn’t help but say out loud.  
“Yeah?” He turned back towards the table.  
“No-- Sorry. I just. I like your name.” Larry awkwardly stammered.  
“Heh, thanks. Got it for my birthday.” And with that, Sally walked back into the kitchen, proceeding to dance to Ashlee Simpson’s ‘Pieces of Me’ with Ash. 

Larry spent some time eating, drinking his milk, and feeling pretty pleased with himself after finally having a really nice meal for the first time in days.

Something told him that this wouldn’t be the last time he’d be coming back to this coffee shop.


	2. Art Block & Naps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a conversation with his loving mother, Larry decides to seek refuge for his art block in the coffee shop downstairs.

“Okay…Now… Paint!”   
…  
“Paint! Come on, hand! Come one, Brain! You can do it!! Paint!”  
…  
“Seriously, you’ve made hundreds of paintings before! Just… Fucking… Paint! Fuck, dude!” 

Larry had been standing at his easel, paintbrush in hand, the bristles hovering just above the completely blank canvas. He just stood there, unmoving, yelling at his own brain and hand. 

He’d been this way for the past hour or so. Finally, he dropped the brush onto the sheet on the floor, gave up, and proceeded to go lay on the couch. He’d finally gotten the cable set up, so now he could watch TV-- Although, he’d much rather be doing something productive. As he stretched out on the couch, his long legs taking up most of the space, he grabbed the remote from the table. He flipped on the TV, and began mindlessly flipping from channel to channel.  
Once again, Larry had no idea what time it was, or even the date. He didn’t care at this point, honestly. As he continued to lay on the couch, head resting upon the arm of the couch, he slowly began to blink a little bit longer each time… 

Larry awoke to the muffled sound of his cell phone ringing. He jolted awake quickly-- a habit he’d had since he was little. He sat up, grabbing his phone from the table and flipping it open as easily as he could-- the exterior of it was coated in a thick layer of dried cheap acrylic after all.   
“Hello?” He answered.  
“LarBear! Hey honey, how are you?”   
Larry’s anxiety melted a bit at the kind voice of his mother.   
“Hey mom… I’m… I’m alright. How are you? How are things?” He smiled sadly.   
“I’m fine honey, I’m just worried about you. You haven’t been calling me!” Lisa worried.   
“I know I know… I…” Larry stood up at this point, scratching the back of his head as he aimlessly wandered into the kitchen.   
“Larry, are you alright? Do you want to come home? You know I can drive up there and--”  
Larry cut her off, “No! No, Mom it’s fine. I’m just having a hard time adjusting is all.”   
Lisa was silent on the other end for a moment. “Mm… My little LarBear is homesick?” Larry could tell she was smiling a bit.   
“Alright, yeah fine. I guess I am.” He admitted.   
Lisa laughed softly. “Well Honey, that’s to be expected. When I moved away from home for the first time, I was miserable!”  
“You were?”   
“Absolutely! But You know what I did?”   
“What did you do?”  
“I found people I loved. I made a new family right here at home, and I found your father… But most of all, I found you. I wasn’t so lonely after I found you in my life, Lar.” Lisa sounded a bit sad in her words, but reassuring at the same time. “You just have to find your people, Lar. Now, what else is bothering you?”   
“Thanks mom… you’re right…” Larry was now sitting on his kitchen counter, one knee up to his chin. “I don’t know. I haven’t really been painting.”   
“What? How come?” Lisa asked, concern in her voice.   
“I just don’t have any drive.” He admitted.   
“Well, go out and find your drive! Take a walk, go to the park, meet some people!” Lisa happily told him. “There’s no use in being sad, honey. Being sad only takes energy away from being happy.”   
Larry smiled a bit. Typical Mom, always finding a way to turn the most negative of things into a positive. “Yeah. You’re right. I… Think I’m gonna go do that.”   
“Good for you, honey! Go out and be the best you that you can be! Look out Portland, here comes Larry Johnson, the happiest guy around!” Lisa cheered.   
Larry laughed. “Thanks mom. I love you.”   
“Love you too, LarBear! Go get ‘em!” 

\--  
“Good morning!” Larry had announced upon arrival into the coffee shop. 

“Good morning? It’s 3 in the afternoon.” Ash looked up from behind the counter, that signature smile on her face. She was currently wiping down the counter area by the register. The radio was on, playing the current Top 40, but at a lower volume. Currently, ‘Since U Been Gone’ by Kelly Clarkson was playing. 

“Hey, morning is defined by when I wake up.” Larry teased, approaching the counter. 

“What can I get for you today?” Ash tucked the rag under the counter, wiping her hands off on her apron. She grabbed her pen and notepad, patiently waiting to take his order. 

Larry scanned the chalkboard, rolling his shoulders back. “Can I get…” He tapped his chin for a moment, “The mocha is like, a chocolate coffee, right?” 

“It is indeed a chocolate coffee.” Ash assured. 

“Can I have a medium one of those and… A bagel with cream cheese? Please?” Larry shoved his hand in his pocket, rummaging around for some money. 

“Right! Sounds good.” Ash scribbled down the order on her notepad. “That’ll be six dollars even.”   
Larry pulled the exact money out of his pocket, handing it to Ash. She placed the money in the register, a bit of a laugh escaping her.   
“Not gonna try to shake my hand this time, Larry?” Ash teased.   
Larry stared at her for a moment, then proceeded to stick his hand out towards Ash. She laughed a bit harder this time, reaching out and shaking his hand. 

Larry was feeling a bit better by this time-- The kindness of Ash was able to help him feel a bit better about himself. He was beginning to think that he was just going to be a friendless mess in this new city, but, he had one person that could stand to be around him, so that was a good thing, right? 

As he took a seat at a table, the coffee shop was once again nearly empty, except for that one redhead on his laptop, in the corner by the window. Larry had only visited this coffee shop a few times since he’d moved in upstairs, but that redhead always seemed to be there, no matter what time of day, at the same table.   
Larry shrugged it off. Like clockwork, he proceeded to pull a napkin from the dispenser and a pen from his pocket. This time, he doodled a forest with a couple of mushrooms-- something whimsical.   
As his pen ran along the rough surface of the napkin, he heard the front door open. He didn’t look up, but the conversation got caught in his ears. 

“Sorry, I’m back.” It was Sally who had came in, Larry could tell that without looking up. 

“No worries! Everything good Sally face?” Ash sounded concerned in her voice. 

“I’m… Fine now. I just needed to go out for a smoke break and some fresh air, I guess.” Sally seemed a bit shaken. At this point, Larry watched the two interact out of the corner of his eye. 

“Just let me know if you need to take another break, alright?” Ash placed her hand on Sally’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

Sal lowered his head a bit, exhaling hard. The bottom part of his mask fell a bit, the buckles undone. As Larry watched this, he figured that… There was a reason that Sally wore that mask. He must have taken it off to smoke or something, because smoking through it would probably be possible hot-box related death. 

“Yeah… Sorry, Travis is just such a fucking bitch sometimes.” Sally pulled an apron out from under the counter, tying it around his waist. He buckled the bottom straps of his mask, composing himself once done. He proceeded to grab the drink order that Ash had taken for Larry, and started on it. 

“Sal,” Sounded a voice Larry had never heard before, “Don’t let Travis push you around like that. You know he’s just trying to push your buttons.” This particular voice was coming from the redhead in the corner. Apparently he knew Sal, and from the way they interacted, they knew each other pretty well. 

“I know; Sometimes it’s just annoying.” Sal stated as he focused on making the drink. 

The conversation fizzled out into random other things that Larry wasn’t focusing on. He proceeded to focus on not tearing the napkin with his pen, and trying to draw this one damn branch just the right way… If it would just take the ink--...  
The napkin ripped, right as soon as Larry was about to be finished. He sighed, shoving the napkin away from him, and dropping his pen on the table. He leaned back hard in his chair, leaning his head back and closing his eyes out of frustration. 

“You alright?” Sally approached the table with Larry’s mocha and bagel. He placed them down, looking at the napkin that was now torn. “You ripped your drawing.” 

“Yeah…” Larry sat up, rubbing his neck. “I’m not having great luck with drawing or painting lately.” Larry looked up at Sal, exhaling slowly. “Do you mind if I ask you something?” Larry gingerly asked. 

“Shoot.” Sal placed his hands in his pockets, looking at Larry. 

“Why the mask?” 

“It’s a prosthetic.” Sal calmly explained. 

“I’m assuming you get that question a lot?” 

“Yeah.” Sal bluntly responded. 

“Well… It’s really cool. Cool name… Cool mask. I… I like it.” A smile tugged at the corner of Larry’s mouth as he diverted eye contact for a moment.   
Was Sally smiling? Frowning? He literally couldn’t tell. He looked back at Sally, and from the look of his eyes, he seemed pretty pleased. Larry continued to smile.   
“Thanks.” Sally simply stated. “Here.” Suddenly, as if a change of pace, Sally pulled something out of his apron pocket and placed it on the table in front of Larry. “Your other drawing, from the other day.”   
I front of Larry was the doodle of all the flowers he’d done the first time he’d come in. Larry raised his eyebrows, looking up at Sal, then back to the drawing.   
“I figured you may want to keep it. It’s pretty good.” Sal mentioned, taking the ripped napkin drawing and slipping it into his apron.   
Larry swallowed. “Geez, thanks dude. That’s really nice of you.”   
Sal nodded, then made his way back behind the counter. In a bit of mental shock, Larry proceeded to eat his bagel and finish his mocha in silence. Once done, he took the napkin, thanked Sal and Ash, and headed back up to the apartment. 

\--

The rest of the afternoon was quiet. Larry was back on the couch watching television. He’d been flipping through channels, dozing in and out of consciousness. He was shaken awake a bit each time he’d drop the remote on the hardwood floor, and this process would repeat about every 15 to 30 minutes. Without motivation, Larry found pretty little to do. He thought about going down to the coffee shop again, but he thought that would be weird to go more than once in a day. 

After a series of dozing off on the couch, Larry awoke to a knocking at his front door. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming. He laid still on the couch, half-awake. Until the knocking occurred again. This time, Larry inhaled hard, sitting up and throwing himself onto his feet immediately. He stumbled up, rubbing his eyes. 

Larry approached the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. 

It was Sally. 

“Oh. H-Hey Sally.” Larry cleared his throat, attempting to make it seem as though he wasn’t just passed the fuck out on the couch. 

“I tried fixing it the best I could.” In that moment, Sally handed Larry the napkin he’d been drawing on earlier. Along the napkin was carefully placed clear tape, the napkin smoothed out completely and it seemed as though he’d never torn it. 

“Woah… Dude… Thank you! That’s really nice… You didn’t have to do this.” Larry took the napkin, looking over it in flustered awe. A gentle rose hue made its way onto his cheeks. 

“You’re really good at art.” Sally nodded. “You should do it more often, like, make it your thing if its not already.” 

“T...Thank you.” Larry was at a loss for words. 

“Have a good night.” Sally waved before turning and walking down the stairs. 

“Y-you too!” Larry called after him. He watched Sally walk away before closing the door and locking it. Larry turned, pressing his back against the door. He held the napkin in his hands, looking at how it was so delicately placed back together and taken care of. He slowly slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor.   
For a while, Larry just sat there, holding the napkin and staring at it.   
…

He immediately jumped up, set the napkin on the counter, ran over to his easel, and began painting his heart out.


	3. 5 AM Coffee Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's early morning at the coffee shop. So early in fact, that they're not open yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends!! I'm really happy that you all are enjoying this fic so much! I'm hoping to keep updating it super often while I'm still on winter break from my college courses. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I particularly loved writing this chapter.   
> I want to give a big shout out to user @MeikoMei15 on here & twitter who actually did some drawings from the first chapter! You should totally go check out their awesome art and give them a follow!!   
> Thank you guys all so so so much, and I hope you like chapter 3! 
> 
> Side note, I listened to this mix while writing this chapter, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak350m1gcV8  
> and it fits amazingly. I highly suggest it if you're someone who likes to listen to music and read. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!   
> Scout

The pencil slid along the paper, the graphite creating lines and shapes, shading and depth along the paper. Larry’s hand carefully gripped the pencil, being careful not to accidentally smudge any of the work he’d done. It had been a few days since he’d gotten his muse back, and boy, was he taking advantage of that. He’d only left the apartment a few times and showered very little. Each time he’d left, it was usually to grab a coffee, sandwich or bagel to go from the coffee shop.   
He’d created a various array of paintings, actually running out of canvases and having to resort to paper and pencil to get his creations out. His paintings were mainly landscapes with some psychedelic elements thrown in. He’d painted the occasional still life scene, generally pleased with the progress he’d made over the past few days.   
His current project was one he’d been fussing over for the last two hours or so. He’d woken up from a dream, immediately grabbing his sketchbook and pencil in his groggy state. He was currently sitting on his mattress, (Yes, he still hadn’t built that bed frame), deep into this drawing. What he finally revealed to himself was a drawing that he’d so meticulously crafted from memories and daydreams. He’d felt so proud, but lost at the same time, as if something was missing.  
‘It’s not right…’ He would think to himself, standing from the mattress and placing the sketch book on the window sill. “It’s not quite right.” He judged his work aloud, turning to walk away to the bathroom. He paused in his tracks, looking back over his shoulder at the drawing he’d done. The subject of the drawing, of course, was none other than Sally. 

Larry stood in the shower, staring down at his feet. He wasn’t upset or having sad thoughts per say, but he was feeling quite lonely at the moment. Random thoughts went through his head such as ‘Maybe I should repaint my nails soon’ and ‘Maybe I should shave my legs’. He tapped a foot aimlessly against the floor of the tub, splashing the water against his foot. A lot of thoughts continued to run through his mind, finally until he paused on one solid thought-- Sally. 

He thought back to when Sal had come up to the apartment, handing him the napkin. He thought about how the napkin looked more pristine than it did originally. He thought about Sally’s eyes, looking up at him… He thought about how short Sally was. Larry snorted, thinking about how small Sally actually was compared to him, and his snort turned into a full on smile.   
He pressed his hand against the wall of the shower, thinking about just how mysterious this blue haired beauty was. His palm rested against the tile calmly, the warm water falling down upon his skin, steam rising up around him. Larry continued to think about Sally… How he didn’t know much about him, but how he was just someone he wanted to know so badly…   
Larry felt a heat rise in his stomach and groin, and at that moment, his hand that was against the tile turned to a fist. He closed his eyes, and let his mind and other hand wander…   
\--

Larry sat awkwardly on his couch, staring at nothingness. Sitting in nothing but a towel around his waist, his wet hair dripped onto his bare skin as he stared at the wall. He tapped his finger against his knee, then began to bounce his leg anxiously.   
“Fuck it.”   
Larry rose from the couch quickly, towel falling off in the process. He got dressed, throwing on his regular jeans and a Sanity’s Fall T-Shirt with that same thin red hoodie. He chose to wear sneakers this time, wanting to avoid slipping down the stairs in his flip flops again. He grabbed his satchel bag, throwing his sketchbook, some pencils, his wallet, and other small items in there.   
As he got downstairs, it was barely bright out. He had realized he hadn’t checked the time before he’d left. He flipped open his phone once he got to the front of the coffee shop, seeing that it was actually 5:03 AM. He scratched the back of his head, staring awkwardly at his phone as it illuminated his face in the early morning darkness. 

Larry shut his acrylic covered phone, placing it back into his bag. He looked into the large front window of the shop, seeing all the lights turned off. Looking up at the writing on the window, he realized that he’d never actually known the name of the coffee shop, even if he’d been there a crazy amount of times. In big bold fancy white lettering, the name of the shop read, ‘Addison Coffee’, and in smaller text below it, it read, ‘Coffee, Tea, & Even More, Please!’. Larry smiled at the cute name of the shop.  
He turned, leaning his back against the glass. He looked up over the other buildings on the street, taking in the blue and purple hue of the sky as the sun barely began to wake up, sun rays hiding behind fluffy clouds that nestled gently among the skyline.   
Larry pulled out a cigarette carton from his bag, flicking open the lid and pulling one out. He shoved the carton into his hoodie pocket, grabbing his lighter in the process. He flicked the lighter to life, cupping his hands around the end of the cigarette and lighting it, the glow of the cigarette illuminating him slightly in the darkness. As he shoved his lighter away, he took a long, hard drag on the cigarette, taking it between is long nimble fingers as he pulled it from his mouth. He looked out among the streets, seeing essentially no one around.   
It had rained the night before, he thought, smelling the wet asphalt and seeing the left over puddles on the dips of the sidewalk. Looking down next to his shoe, he focused his attention towards a small yet beautiful flower attempting to grow up from the sidewalk. The faintest smile came to his lips. 

The sound of a car pulling up on street lifted Larry’s gaze. He watched a car slow to a stop by the shop, but not directly in front of it. The passenger door opened, followed by a muffled “Thanks! See you at 12?” 

Larry watched the passenger get out of the car. 

It was Sally.   
Larry refocused his attention to the flower in the sidewalk crack, attempting to make it seem as though he wasn’t just staring another something beautiful. 

Worn converse sneakers appeared in his vision. 

“You mind if I bum one off of you?” 

Larry looked up at Sally who was looking at him through the eye holes of his prosthetic. 

“Oh yeah, no problem.” Larry pulled the cigarette carton from his pocket, along with the lighter. He handed a cigarette to Sally, who took it and undid the bottom strap of his mask. 

Sally lifted the mask slightly, placing the cigarette between scarred lips. Larry pulled his lighter from his pocket, lighting it and holding it out. Sally held the cigarette with his fingers as it rested between his lips, bringing his face to the flame and lighting the cigarette.   
In the embers of the cigarette, Larry could faintly make out some of Sally’s scars. 

It wasn’t polite to stare. 

The two stood, Sal leaning his back against the store window as well. 

“You’re here early.” Sal spoke, a tapping ashes onto the sidewalk. 

“I can say the same for you.” Larry replied, glancing over at Sal. 

“I work here.” Sal stated, a bit of a chuckle tied to his words. For the first time, Larry could see a an emotion on his face. 

“I would hope so.” Larry quick wittedly added. 

“Fuck, me too. Otherwise I don’t know where these paychecks are coming from.” Sally grinned. 

The boys laughed, Sal coughing a bit after laughing. 

“I didn’t realize what time you guys opened.” Larry finished his statement by taking another drag off the cigarette. 

“We open at six, but you can come in. I usually get here early so I can clean up and prep before people start coming in.” Sally simply explained. 

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble with your boss or anything.” Larry worried the edges of his sleeve between his finger and thumb. 

“You mean Addison? He’s never in the store. The only time he shows up is to give us new recipes he wants to add to the menu. Most of the time he just calls. I doubt I’d get in trouble with someone who’s never around.” Sally continued staring out into the street. 

“That’s pretty weird.” 

“You’re telling me.” 

“Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind a place to sit.” Larry smiled a bit. 

“A’ight.” Sally took one last drag off the cigarette, the smoke escaping his lips and drifting up into the gentle dew of the morning. He threw his cigarette to the sidewalk, crushing it with his foot before kicking it into the dirt. Larry did the same. 

Sally redid his bottom straps, then pulled a lanyard with an uncomfortable amount of keys from his hoodie pocket. On the key ring was also a charm of a cat. He stepped over to the front door and unlocked it, stepping in and holding the door open for Larry. After Larry stepped inside, Sal closed the door behind them and locked it to make sure no one would try to come in before opening.   
Larry stepped over to his usual table, dropping his bag into an empty chair. He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking around aimlessly. Sal went behind the counter and walked into the kitchen area. Larry heard the sound of rummaging, and what sounded like a locker being opened and closed. When Sal returned, he no longer had his hoodie on. Now he was just in a long sleeved black sweater and red jeans. As he stepped out of the kitchen, he looked around and let a chuckle escape from him. 

“What?” Larry asked. 

“I… Guess my other coworker cleaned up last night. They usually never do, that’s why I always get here so early.” Sally raised his arms above his head and stretched, letting out a yawn at the end of his words. 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” 

“Yeah, I just have nothing to do now.” Sally chuckled a bit. “Do you want a coffee?” 

“Oh, sure.” Larry began reaching for his wallet. 

“No, dude, don’t worry about it. Mocha, right?” Sally waved his hand nonchalantly as if to say ‘put away your wallet’ with his hands. 

“Oh--” This caught Larry off guard. “Y-Yeah! Thank you.” 

“No problem. Go sit, it’ll take only a sec.” 

A few minutes later, Sally approached the table that Larry was sitting at. In the darkness of the coffee shop, Sally set the mocha down in front of Larry, then proceed to sit down across from Larry. 

Larry smiled, placing his cold hands on the warm mug. “Thanks.” 

“No problem.” 

There was an uncomfortable silence. 

“So uhm…” Larry looked down at his dim reflection in the mug. “Are you originally from Portland?” 

The sun was beginning to rise. 

“No.” Sally leaned back in his chair a bit. “My dad and I moved here from New Jersey when I was 15.” 

“Oh wow. That’s a long way to go.” Larry took a sip of the mocha. 

“Yeah… But my dad had new business opportunities and… it was good for us to move.” Sal stood up at that moment, walking over to the drink display fridge-- one of the few sources of light in the room. He grabbed an orange juice from it, undoing the bottom straps on his mask as he returned to the table. “What brought you to Portland?” He asked, screwing the cap off of the juice. 

“Good place for being an artist, I heard. Plus my mom went online and found the apartment listing for me, and it was the cheapest yet nicest place that would work for me.” Larry explained. 

“Do you like it here so far?” Sal asked, taking a sip of his juice. 

“Yeah… I’m just sort of lonely, I guess. I mean it’s not like I had a lot of people back home but… I had my mom to always talk to and the sort.” 

“Well. You know you’re always welcome here. I usually work morning or early afternoons but, I’m here most of the time.” Sally assured. 

Larry paused, feeling his cheeks involuntarily heat up at Sal’s kind words. “Thanks, dude.” 

“No problem.. Hey, how’s the art thing going?” Sal’s words became more enthusiastic once he asked about Larry’s art.   
Larry perked up. His mind instantly went to the sketch he’d done earlier. “It’s going really well, actually. I got my muse back.” 

“That’s great!” Sally was pleased. “So you are an artist?” 

“Yeah. I try to sell my art from time to time. I really just like painting and sketching, though.” 

“I wish I was good at art. Would you mind if I saw some of your art that isn’t on napkins sometime?” Sally tilted his head a bit. 

“Oh, sure! I don’t mind sharing most of the time.” 

There was a comfortable silence. 

“I like your shirt. What’s it for?” Sally asked, pointing to the shirt. 

“Oh, a metal band called Sanity’s Fall! Have you ever heard of them?” Larry lit up like a christmas tree. 

“I can’t say I have.” 

“Do you like metal?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, that’s gotta change.”

Sally laughed a bit. 

“I have an awesome stereo system upstairs if you want to come up sometime and listen! You’ll love them, I’m sure. They’re literally my favorite band! You gotta listen to them sometime dude.” Larry gushed, waving his hands around as he spoke. 

“Sure! It sounds like fun.” Sal cheerfully replied. Larry could tell Sal was smiling. 

“Awesome!” Just then, with an enthusiastic wave of his hand, Larry accidentally tipped his mug. “Fuck!” 

The mug only spilled some, because Sal had quickly reached out and grabbed the mug to stop it from spilling over completely. “Shit, you good, man?” Sal asked, concern threaded through his words. 

“Y-Yeah I’m fine. Just got some on me. I’m--” Larry stood up, his face growing red. “I’m just gonna go wash up.” Flustered, Larry bumped into the empty chair his bag sat on, his satchel falling to the ground and the contents spilling out onto the floor. He turned back, face growing hotter. He ran to the bathroom, ignoring that his bag had fallen-- making a mental note to pick it up later. 

Sally had stood up, a barely outstretched hand reaching in Larry’s direction as he had ran to the bathroom in a panic.   
As he heard the bathroom door shut and lock, he stood silently for a moment before stepping over to the spilled bag on the floor. Crouching down, Sally began to pick up pencils and kneaded erasers, carefully placing them back into the bag. But as he was about to pick up the sketchbook, he froze, staring at the page it had fallen open to. 

In the bathroom, Larry had managed to wash the coffee out of his shirt. Brushing his long hair behind his ears, Larry placed his hands on either side of the white sink. The fluorescent bulb of the bathroom flickered slightly, Larry staring at his reflection in the mirror. He panted a bit, attempting to maintain his composure. Turning the sink on once more, he splashed a bit of cold water on his face, then wiped it off with a paper towel.   
“You’re alright.” He whispered to himself. “You’re alright.” Larry stood quietly, focusing mainly on just his body and the sounds around him. He focused on his presence in the room, and the empty sounds of the room, and how he’d be okay. This was a technique his Mother had taught him to do since he was little. Anxiety was a bitch, and in some situations, it would always get too much for him. But right now, he’d be okay.   
He stood up straight, looking at himself in the mirror. He stared blankly for a few seconds, before nodding, shooting himself a toothy grin, and holding up two finger guns. “There we go.” He assured himself.   
He stepped out of the bathroom, attempting to be as casual as humanly possible. 

Until he froze completely. 

“Is this me?” Sal asked. 

Sal was standing there, holding the sketchbook open to the page that it had fallen open to. That page just so happened to be the drawing that Larry had done of Sal earlier that morning. 

“Y...” Larry couldn’t find his voice for a moment. He cleared his throat and nodded. “Yeah.”

“It’s really good.” 

Larry’s anxiety began to melt. 

“I um…” Larry cleared his throat again, stepping over towards Sal. “It’s hard to draw people when they aren’t there or you don’t have a picture of them.”   
“Want to try again, then?” 

“What?”

“I get off of work at 1. Do you want to draw me then?”

Larry was in a bit of shock.   
Sorry, not a bit, a lot of shock. He had to actually pinch himself discreetly to ground himself back to this conversation. 

“Yeah, sure. That works for me.” He calmly answered. 

“Cool.” Sal smiled. “We’re about to open now, feel free to hang out. But otherwise, I’ll see you at 1?” 

“Y-Yeah. See you at 1.”


	4. Oreo's & Graphite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sal heads over to Larry's place for a a drawing session after work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Just a fair warning, there is drug use in this chapter! It's nothing too intense, and only medication & marijuana based. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

“Buying more than soda today?” The corner store cashier asked, ringing up the items that Larry had placed on the counter. 

“Huh?” Larry looked up from his phone where he was checking the time. It was 12:05. 

“Every time I see you in here, you only buy soda.” The cashier placed his items into a brown paper bag, hitting one last button on the register. “15.87” 

“Oh, yeah.” Larry pulled his wallet out. “Well, I’m having a friend over today. I figured it would be weird to have no food in my apartment and have someone over.” He replied awkwardly, handing the cashier a 20 dollar bill. 

The cashier chuckled. “Don’t worry, kid. You’ll be just fine.” 

Larry wasn’t sure what to say in response, taking his change and the paper bag from the counter.   
“Thanks.” He said, making his way out of the store. 

The walk back to the apartment was brief, and it had begun to rain slightly. It wasn’t much, just a drizzle, but he was worried about his groceries getting wet. He’d purchased a few items, such as stuff for sandwiches, some chips and some cookies. Nothing too fancy, but just standard food to make it look like he was a normal-functioning human. 

As he walked back, his iPod sat in his hoodie pocket, earbuds in his ears. He slightly nodded his head up and down to a Sanity’s Fall song, mumbling some of the lyrics to himself as he walked. He placed a hand out, letting rain droplets fall down onto his skin to see just how hard it was raining.   
“Should probably hurry up and head home.” He thought aloud to himself. Larry pulled his earbuds out of his ears, shoving them into his pocket with his iPod. He walked a little bit faster, slowing down once his building was in sight.   
Looking down to be careful not to step in any puddles, Larry began to hear faint voices in the distance. He looked up, seeing Sal.

Sal was standing on the sidewalk, cigarette in hand. He was talking to somebody sitting in a car, that being the same car that had dropped Sal off earlier that morning.   
Larry couldn’t help but listen a bit.   
“I didn’t bring my phone with me, I’m sorry I didn’t call you, alright?” Sal seemed a bit frazzled, taking a hard drag off the cigarette at the end of his words.   
“It’s alright, Sal. It’s just that Todd and I drove all the way out here to pick you up.” Said an unfamiliar voice from the passenger side. 

“And I’m sorry, alright? I’ll call you next time.” Sal threw the cigarette onto the ground and crushed it with his heel. 

“It’s fine. Just be safe, and have fun on your little date.” Replied the unfamiliar voice. 

Larry felt his blood run cold for half a second. 

Was… This person referring to Larry and Sal’s drawing session this afternoon as a ‘date’? 

“It’s not a date!” Sal placed both his hands on the door, an embarrassed laugh in his words. 

“Oh, it totally is.” A hand reached out of the open window, ruffling Sal’s light blue hair. 

Sal swatted the hand the hand away, shaking his head. “Cut it out. I’ll see you guys later.” And with that, Sal returned into the coffee shop, and the car pulled away. 

At this point, Larry felt as though he was about to throw up his own heart. He had hurried up his stairs, slipping a bit but catching himself. With his hands cold and shaking just barely, he unlocked his door.   
Shutting the door behind him and locking it, he walked over to the kitchen and placed his groceries on the counter. Silently, he unloaded the bag, putting everything away. He seemed calm on the exterior, but on the inside, a million thoughts were going through his head at once. Was this a date? What if Sal expected it to be a date? He probably didn’t, right? He said it wasn’t. They hardly know each other, they’re acquaintances, friends at best! Wait, why would that unfamiliar person say it’s a date? Has Sal mentioned something to them to insinuate this would be a date? 

Larry practically ripped his cellphone open and immediately called his mom. 

“Heya Lar--!”   
Larry cut his mother off immediately.   
“What do I do if I have a date and I didn’t expect to have a date?!” His words were fast paced.   
“You have a date? LarBear, that’s great!” Lisa sounded genuinely pleased.   
“Yeah but I don’t know if it’s actually a date.”   
“How do you not know if it’s actually a date?”   
“I don’t know. But what do I do if it is?”   
“Do you two have anything planned?” Lisa asked.   
“I’m gonna draw h-- them. For a few hours.” Larry caught Sal’s pronouns in his throat.   
“That sounds lovely. Just be yourself, Lar! Talk, have some food maybe, and just be yourself. I’m sure your date will love that.” Lisa calmed her son, giving him the best advice she could.   
“Thanks mom…” Larry sighed, trying to replay his mother’s advice over and over in his mind.   
“Of course honey. I love you.”   
“Love you too, Mom.” 

\--   
Larry had spent the last 30 minutes cleaning up the studio the best he could. Of course it was still messy, but it was organized messy. He had set up his beanbag across from his bed so Sal wouldn’t have to sit on the floor. And of course, Larry had made his bed the best he could. He’d laid his blanket out across the mattress, along with the pillows propped up nicely. It almost didn’t look like a sad mattress on the floor. 

Larry had been in his bathroom at this moment, fumbling with a single pill in his hand. He’d been running his thumb over it slowly as it rested in his palm. His tired eyes looked at himself in the mirror, then back at the pill. He took the pill and broke it in half… Then broke it into quarters. Taking only a small bit, he sighed and nodded. He placed it in his mouth, then leaned his head under the faucet and ran some water into his mouth. He swallowed the pill, picking up the bottle and looking at the label.   
He hated taking his anti-anxiety medication.   
But he fucking hated anxiety even more.

Larry had walked out of the bathroom and stepped over to the kitchen grabbing a soda from the fridge and popping the tab. He took a sip, hoping to get the nasty pill taste out of his mouth. As he leaned against the counter, taking a sip, he heard a knock at the door.   
“Alright. You’re cool, dude. You’re all good. Just be yourself.” He assured himself, taking a deep breath in, and out. He waited a few seconds to compose himself before finally walking over to the door and opening it. 

“Hey man.” Larry stepped to the side, opening the door a bit wider. He was greeted with Sally back in his hoodie, with a different shirt on underneath than he had on earlier. 

“Hey.” Sally stepped in, looking around. “This place is cool, I’ve never been up here before.” 

Larry closed the door behind Sal, taking another sip of his soda. “It’s pretty sweet. I’m liking it a lot so far… Do you want a soda or water or anything?” 

“No, I’m good.” Sally began to wander further into the apartment, approaching all of the different paintings that were hung up along the walls, propped against the floor, or unfinished on easels. “Wow…” Sally sounded with a bit of awe. 

Larry felt his cheeks warm up, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched Sally look over his work. 

“This stuff is amazing. I wouldn’t have been able to tell from just your napkin art that you’re this good.” Sally crouched down in front of one of the paintings that was propped up against the wall. 

“Thanks… It’s just something I’ve loved to do all my life, y’know?” Larry sheepishly replied.

“Yeah… It’s radical.” Sally stood up, walking over to an unfinished painting on an easel. “What’s this one going to be?” 

“Oh, this one,” Larry cleared his throat, walking over next to Sal. “It’s this place my Dad used to take me as a kid. It’s this lake from my hometown, and it has these trees around it that look kind of eerie and whimsical at the same time-- kind of like a fairytale like Snow White or something, y’know? I’ve been working on it for a couple days, but I can’t replicate the trees.” Larry mused, gesturing to each piece of the painting as he spoke about it. 

“I like the colors you used.” Sal was smiling under his mask, enjoying hearing Larry so confidently speak about his painting. 

This continued for a little while, Sal inquiring about different paintings of Larry’s and Larry enthusiastically speaking about each one, their little details and their meanings. It struck something warm in Sally-- seeing someone speak with so much love for something they did. He’d only seen a shyer, quieter side of Larry, and this made him only begin to enjoy his presence more. 

“So, can I draw you?” Larry had stepped over to the bed, sitting down and placing his sketchbook in his lap. 

Sal was currently eyeing a photo on Larry’s wall, a gentle smile resting behind his mask. “Is this you and your mom?” He asked, mentioning the graduation picture. 

“Oh, uhm. Yeah, it was when I graduated from high school.” 

“Your mom is pretty. I see where you get your looks from.” Sally bluntly complimented. 

Larry felt his entire body go hot, feeling as though his face was probably completely red. His ears and cheeks were practically on fire, and he was unsure of how to actually respond to that. Before he could respond, though, Sally had already taken a seat in the bean bag chair across from Larry.   
“Do you want my hair up, or down?” Sally asked. 

“Uh,” Larry leaned over and nonchalantly cracked the window open, allowing some cool air to flow into the room. “Can I see what it looks like down?” 

“Sure.” Sally stood up, turning his back to Larry. He unclipped his mask, placing it between his legs to hold it as he pulled the elastic ties out of his hair. He grabbed his mask, slipping it back on and securing it. He turned back around to face Larry, then sat down in the bean bag again. 

 

“I like it down.” Larry nodded. “Why do you wear the straps over your hair?” 

“It pulls otherwise.” 

“Makes sense.” Larry adjusted the sketchbook, grabbing a pencil and his eraser. “You ready?” 

“Ready when you are.” 

The next few hours consisted of Larry creating Sal out of graphite, carefully crafting the lines and edges of his mask, hair and shoulders. The two talked, and they talked quite a bit, actually. They clicked, like two puzzle pieces from different puzzles that fit together somehow. They bounced off each other so easily, Larry being the pencil, and Sal being the paper. They didn’t realize the time passing, only the enjoyment and softness they both felt in each other’s presence. 

\--  
“Okay, so you’re telling me that this Travis dude bullied you in high school, now chooses to torment you at the coffee shop?” Larry’s hair was now up in a messy bun, graphite smudges on his arms and face. 

“Yeah, it’s bizarre. It’s like I awakened his gay thoughts and now he’s trying to get back at me for some reason.” Sal was trying not to move too much as he spoke. 

This earned a hard gut laugh from Larry, constantly enthused by the things that Sal had been saying.   
“He’s actually a decent guy, though. When it’s just me and him.” Sally explained, shrugging a bit. 

“I guess, dude. But it’s still not cool that he chooses to piss you off and torment you like that.” Larry replied, furrowing his brows slightly. 

Sally just shrugged. “You’re not wrong.” 

“I got bullied back in high school, but near my senior year, I decided to give up on letting them get under my skin. Once I stopped reacting, they stopped fucking with me.” Larry stated, shading a few strands of Sal’s hair. 

“Did you have anyone to hang with, at least?” 

“Nah. It was just me, my weed and my music, dude.” 

“You smoke weed?” Sal looked at Larry without moving his head. 

Larry looked up for a moment. “Why, do you want to smoke some?” 

“What?” 

“..What?” 

“Sure.” 

Larry snorted. “Sure, dude. Let me just finish up. I’ll be done in a couple of minutes, then I can roll us a joint. Do you smoke joints?” 

“I don’t know.” Sal replied. 

“Well, that’s gotta change.” 

\--  
“Alright, Sally Face,” Larry began, using the nickname of Sal’s that he’d learned over the previous few hours of conversation, “I present to you, you!” Larry proudly announced, flipping the sketchbook towards Sal. 

“Wow, finally. I had no idea being a model took so much out of you.” He rubbed his neck and rolled his shoulders back, turning towards Larry. He widened his eyes, raising his eyebrows. His jaw dropped slightly as he dropped to his knees out of the bean bag to scoot closer towards Larry.   
Carefully, Sal reached out and grabbed the sketchbook, holding it and looking silently at the drawing.   
Larry couldn’t make out any emotion on Sal’s face, and with the silence, he was fearing the worst. 

“Oh shit, you hate it.” Larry worried, feeling his stomach begin to sink. 

“N..No, I love it.” Sal’s words were a bit breathless, but he began to chuckle slightly. “I love this, dude. This is so cool!” 

Larry smiled coyly, looking to the side. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.” 

“Well, I’m glad you love it, dude. Thank you for letting me draw you.”   
“Thank you for drawing me.” 

They looked at each other, their eyes meeting. Larry’s dark eyes contrasted with Sal’s bright blue ones. 

“Do you… wanna smoke now?” Larry asked softly. 

Sal, still holding the sketchbook but his eyes focused on Larry’s, was quiet for a moment. He sat there on his knees still, only mere inches away from Larry.   
“Sure.” 

“Cool.” Larry stood up, walking away for a moment and walking over to the kitchen. He began to dig through one of the drawers. 

Sal waited quietly, standing as well, but still staring at the sketch book. He set the sketchbook down on the windowsill after a while of staring, but still looked over at it every once and while. He fucking loved it. 

\--   
Smoke escaped Larry’s parted lips. It floated upwards, the thick smoke almost framing his face for a moment as it dissipated into the air. It had been almost 2 hours, and the joint was almost gone. It probably had one hit left on it. The overhead light in the room was now off, the only light coming from a small lamp in the corner of the room opposite from the mattress. It filled the room with a dull, soft light, just enough to relax, while still being able to see slightly.   
Both Sally & Larry were sitting on Larry’s mattress, Sally with his back propped against the wall, Larry sitting on the edge of the mattress with his feet on the floor.   
Sal was laughing at a joke Larry had told about 5 minutes prior, and it was still the most hilarious thing in the world to him at the moment. As Sal’s giggling subsided, he sat forward a bit and placed a light hand on Larry’s shoulder. 

“Shit, did you smoke it all?” Laughter still coated Sal’s voice. 

“No!” Larry, a smirk practically plastered to his face. “I did not, my fine sir, smoke it all. There’s like. One hit left.” 

“Give it.” Sal patted his hand against Larry’s shoulder like an annoying cat. 

“No way, Sally Face! You’ve smoked almost as much as me and you’re like, barely half my size.” Larry teased, playfully shoving his hand off his shoulder. 

“Come on! I’ll share!” Sally placed both of his hands on Larry’s shoulders.

“How do you suppose that’ll even work?” Larry raised an eyebrow. 

Sal now scooted directly next to Larry, their thighs touching due to how close in proximity they were to each other. These ‘Acquaintances’ were certainly becoming fast friends, that was for sure. 

Sal lifted the bottom of his mask slightly. “Come on, give it to me.” Larry was able to see a bit of Sal’s toothy smile.   
Larry rolled his eyes, slightly unwillingly handing Sal the last of the joint. Sal took a hard inhale, indeed taking the last hit. 

Larry was about to protest, going on about how it was his weed and he’s the one who rolled the joint, when he was stopped by the feeling of a hand on his face. 

 

Sally had gently placed his hand on Larry’s jawline, turning Larry’s head ever so slightly until they were facing each other. Sally sat on his knee to bring his face level to Larry’s. Larry tensed up, watching with blood-shot eyes as Sal moved closer to him.   
Sal brought his scarred lips less than an inch away from Larry’s lips. Instinctively, Larry parted his lips slightly, and closed his eyes. With his hands on Larry’s shoulder’s, Sal parted his lips and blew the smoke into Larry’s mouth. Larry leaned forward slightly, his lips practically brushing with Sal’s, The two stayed this way for a moment in time, Sally exhaling the thick smoke into Larry’s mouth, who inhaled it the best he could.   
Larry’s hands would usually be shaking, and his mind would usually be spinning. But for some reason, right now, all that mattered was Sally. All that mattered was Sally’s lips barely touching his, the feeling of his nose gently pressed against Sal’s prosthetic mask, the feeling of Sal’s hands on his shoulders. As the smoke slowly left their presence, leaving the two with their lips barely touching, Larry instinctively leaned forward more. He slowly went to press his lips against Sally’s, yearning to touch him more, to kiss him, to feel him.

Sally stood up, smiling. He pulled his mask down, looking around, completely casual. He walked over to the kitchen area, opening a cabinet or two. Pulling a bag of Oreo's out of one of the cupboards, he set it down on the counter.   
“Where are your cups? Also can I have some of these?” Sally asked, gesturing to the Oreo's. 

Larry was in some sort of shock. He sat there, staring at Sally with wide eyes. He didn’t know what to say, or do. He stood up, looking over at Sal. “What was that?” 

“What was what?” Sal asked, already opening the bag of Oreo's. 

“You-- You practically just kissed me!” Larry’s voice cracked with his words, raising his voice a lot. 

“I was sharing.” Sally chuckled a bit.   
“I don’t know what it’s like in New Jersey or Oregon, but that was kissing.” Larry wildly moved his hands around as he spoke, walking over to the kitchen. 

“It wasn’t. I shared with you. I said I’d share with you if you gave me the last hit.” Sally shoved an Oreo into his mouth. “How high are you?” He asked, mouth full.

“How high am I? How high are you?!” Larry pulled a glass down from the cupboard, handing it to Sally. 

Sally gave a soft and barely audible, “Ah, Thanks.” Between chewing his Oreo and accepting the glass. He swallowed, turning to the sink and turning the tap on to fill the glass up with water. “We’re both reasonably pretty high.” 

“I know, dude!” Larry grabbed an Oreo from the pack, shoving it into his mouth. “But I know when someone kisses someone, and that was a kiss!” 

“It wasn’t.” Sally sighed, grabbing another Oreo. 

“It was, dude! It was!” Larry protested. 

“Dude, it wasn’t… Look, can I sleep here tonight? I’m way too high to figure out a way home right now.” 

“Yeah… That’s fine.” Larry lowered his voice. 

“Cool.” And with that, Sally brought his hand up to his eye, maneuvering for a moment until he’d pulled it out. He placed it in the cup of water, then looked back at Larry. 

“Did you just pull out your fucking eye?” Larry deadpanned. 

“Yeah, it’s glass.” Sally explained. 

“Is that why only one of your eyes got red?” 

“Mhm.” Sally hummed, bringing the cup to his mouth and taking a sip of the water. 

“N-No no no, Don’t drink that!” Larry grabbed the cup from Sally, setting it on the counter. “Dude your eye is in that, what the absolute fuck?!” 

“Heh, oh yeah.” Sally chuckled. 

\-- 

Larry had sat down on the couch, Sally laying down on the bed. He was shirtless, but wearing his unzipped hoodie and jeans still. Not to mention, he still had the prosthetic on. Sal’s eye rested in the partially drunk from cup on the windowsill next to the bed. Sal seemed to be asleep, and Larry didn’t want to disturb him.   
He got up, walked over to the lamp in the corner of the room, and turned the light off. Larry returned to the couch, laying down, and promptly falling asleep a few minutes later. 

\-- 

“Oh, what the fuck?!” 

A shirtless Larry jolted awake, sitting up and looking over towards Sal, who had just yelled Larry awake on accident.   
‘Oh yeah, he spent the night.’ Larry quickly mentally reminded himself. 

“W-What?” Larry coughed and cleared his throat. His voice was groggy and rough. 

“I shoved my hand in the wrong cup..Is this fucking paint water?” Sal sat up, his chest exposed through his open hoodie. 

Larry couldn’t stifle his laughter. “Yeah dude. You kept trying to drink the cup with your eye so I moved it up onto the windowsill.”   
Sal looked at Larry from across the room, a bit of disbelief on his face. Of course, Larry couldn’t see this expression.   
“I did? Oh shit, I did huh?” 

“You did a lot of shit last night, Sally.” Larry stated bluntly. 

Sally was quiet. He diverted his eye from Larry, looking up at the cup on the windowsill. Morning sun shined in onto Sally, illuminating him in a gentle golden glow. As he went to reach for the cup, his fingers were just short. Instead of gripping it, he accidentally knocked it over-- 

Right onto the drawing Larry had done the night before. 

“Oh-- Fuck! Fuck!”

Larry was currently waking up still, stretching and not focusing on the situation until Sally began to yell again. “What--? O-Oh-- Dude!” Larry had gotten up, quickly making his way over to the windowsill. Sally had managed to grab the cup before it spilled too much, but the paper had a notable amount of water on it.   
“I’m so sorry, Larry-- Shit. I’m so sorry..” Sally was clutching the cup tightly, his eyebrows furrowed hard. “Fuck. I’m so sorry.” 

“No-- Dude it’s fine. Don’t worry, okay?” Larry exhaled, pulling the sketchbook from the windowsill. Thankfully, only that one piece had gotten wet. He cautiously tore the page out, placing it on the floor flat in hopes it would dry over time. 

“I’m sorry dude.” Sally said softly, feeling incredibly guilty. 

“Don’t worry.” Larry placed the sketchbook to the side, getting down at Sal’s level. “Don’t worry.” He looked directly at Sal, placing his hands on his shoulders. 

“Alright…” Sally said, barely audible. “How can I make this up to you?” 

Larry thought for a moment. “Let me draw you again?” 

Sally smiled a bit. “Seems fair.” 

 

And this was only the beginning of Sal’s many after work visits to Larry’s apartment.


	5. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally invites Larry over for movie night at his place.

Ash has short brown hair, and any loose strands or cowlicks were pinned back with thin, black bobby pins. Her eyeliner is thicker on the top of her eyes than on the bottom, and she uses mascara on both top and bottom eyelashes. In the overhead lighting of the coffee shop, you could tell she was wearing lipgloss because of how it sparkled occasionally.  
You could tell her drinks from Sal’s, because hers always had a pink lip mark on the rim of the cup. You could also tell the difference between their drinks, because Ash’s drinks would always smell strongly of coffee, and Sal’s would rarely have any coffee in them-- He hated the taste, but his roommate always made a fresh pot every morning, offering some to him. Everyone poked fun at Sal for being a barista who hated coffee. He liked fruit juices better, and wasn’t very fond of hot drinks. Hot drinks were hard to drink with straws and the steam would always go up under his mask.  
Sally doesn’t drive. He never learned how, but also because of his vision impairment, he didn’t ever want to learn how. He’d relied on his dad, then Todd, then all of his other friends for rides. Ash rides a motorcycle, which is cool. Todd drives a van, which is also cool. Todd also has a boyfriend, Neil. Neil is really cool, and thinks of Sal as a little brother in some ways. He’s really protective of all of his friends, and really loves Todd. It’s cool, because where Larry is from, you don’t see many openly gay people all the time. It was cool, and gave Larry confidence.  
Sal does this thing when he has an itch under his mask, but he’s too busy to get it. He taps his mask with his fingers, hoping the pressure from the mask will relieve the itch. It usually doesn’t, but he still does it anyways. Sal also does this thing, where when he finds something funny, you can tell, even if he’s not laughing. It’s because his eyes crease up in this specific way, and you can tell he’s smiling. It’s a lot different from any other expression he makes, and you can begin to learn his emotions the longer you know him. Sal is also now a big fan of metal music, which is in Larry’s book-- really, really, really cool. He headbangs harder than any person Larry’s ever known, which for some reason, gives him butterflies.

These are the things Larry had learned after 2 months of being officially initiated into the friend group. Of course, the only person he’d hung out with outside of the coffee shop was Sal, but the rest of the group considered him one of them, which was awesome.  
Everyone in the friend group had become muses in some way to Larry. Todd and Neil had a couple of sketches, Ash had a few, but… Sal? Sal had the most. He made it a habit, coming over to Larry’s place, letting him draw him, and then they would smoke afterwards and just hang out. 

Larry became accustomed to Sal’s little ‘smoke kisses’, constantly yearning for more from him each time he did it. He didn’t want to push things, though. He didn’t want to ruin what they had-- and especially not ruin what he had with everyone else. He didn’t want to fuck it all up, but he felt like, somehow, he would.  
\--  
“Ash!” Larry called out from his table, digging through his pencil bag. “Ash, what color are your eyes?” 

“Uhh,” Ash was currently making a sandwich for a waiting customer. “Green.”  
She ignored Sally, who snickered and said a quiet, “Why did you hesitate?”, teasing her. 

“What kind of green? Like a forest green or an emerald green?” Larry pulled two pencils out of his bag, looking at both of them. He waited until Ash finished the sandwich, placing it in a to-go box and handing it to the customer. 

“I don’t know what kind of green!” She responded, cleaning up the slight mess she’d made. 

Larry stood up, taking both of the pencils with him. “Come here.” 

Ashley complied, walking over and leaning over to the counter. She got her face really close to his, raising an eyebrow at him. “Tell me, what kind of green?” 

Larry held up one pencil next to each of Ash’s eyes, looking into her eyes, then back at the pencils. He did this for a few short moments, before nodding in confidence. “Forest green.” 

Ashley had a pleased smile on her face as she stepped back. “Hear that?! Forest green, everyone!”  
The only people in the shop now were Ash, Sal, Larry, Todd, and that one customer who was still waiting on his drink. 

“I would’ve sworn your eyes were an emerald green.” Todd pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, looking up from his laptop. 

“Me too.” Sally added, handing the waiting customer his drink. “Have a nice day.” He told the customer as he left. 

“No no no, come here.” Larry protested, nodding towards Ash. Ash walked over, and Larry handed her the pencils. “Hold these next to your eyes.” He told her, and she did so. 

Todd leaned over the counter slightly, staring in silence at the pencils, and her eyes. He squinted a bit, an inquisitive look on his face. Sally did the same thing, hopping up on the counter and sitting on it. He got his face close to Ash’s, who was giggling as she watched the boys try to determine her eye color. 

Almost in unison, Todd and Sally both let out sounds of defeat. Todd threw his arms up, and sally hopped off the counter, arms crossed.  
“Larry’s right!” Sally cried out, shaking his head.  
“Of course he’s right, he’s an artist.” Ashley laughed, handing the pencils back to Larry. “We know best!” She winked playfully at Todd. 

Todd looked directly at Ash. “And where’d that art degree get you, Ash?” He deadpanned. 

“Hey!” Ash reached over the counter, playfully shoving Todd. “You know this is just temporary until my stuff starts taking off!” 

“Whatever you say, Ashley.” Todd smirked slightly, heading back to his table and sitting down. 

“Hey. Your stuff is gonna do great one day, I promise.” Larry placed a comforting hand on Ash’s arm, smiling warmly at her. 

Ash placed her hand on top of Larry’s, smiling back. “You too, alright?” 

\-- 

Larry had been shading a few things on this drawing he’d been working on of Ashley, when he was startled out of his little world by a cup being placed on the table. Larry set his pencil down and took his earbuds out, looking up to see Sally, staring at him from across the table. 

“Drink it.” Sally said, no distinguishable emotion to his voice. 

“Oh here we go… What did you make this time?” Larry rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair. 

Sally had this little game he liked to play when it was slow. He’d take a bunch of different ingredients or drink recipes, mix them together, and make Larry have to guess what they were. 

“Drink it, and see.” Sal slid the drink a bit closer to Larry. 

Larry picked up the drink, sniffing it first. It smelled strongly of coffee, and… Peppermint? He took a cautious sip, his nose wrinkling as soon as he did. “Oh-- Jesus Sal.” He coughed, quickly grabbing a napkin and bringing it up to his mouth. Sal laughed.

“What’s in it!” Sal, bounced up and down for a moment like an excited little kid. 

Larry rolled his eyes so hard this time, Sal was momentarily afraid his eyes would go all the way back in his head. Larry took another sip, making that same, disgusted face. 

“Coffee… Peppermint… Caramel…Something nutty?” Larry began. 

“Aaand?” Sal had a bit of a sing-song sound to his voice. 

“Is that like… A berry?” 

“You got it! It was raspberry, strawberry and blueberry. I used the flavorings we use for the new Italian sodas that Addison just added to the menu.” Sal took the cup away from Larry, lifting his mask a bit and taking a sip. Sal instantly gagged a bit, covering his mouth with his hand. “Jesus.” 

“Why are you like this?” Larry teased, looking at Sal and aimlessly tapping his fingers against his sketchbook. 

Sally shrugged, Larry catching a bit of his smile before he fully pulled his mask back down. He began to walk away from the table with the mess of a drink, before pausing.  
“Oh hey, I forgot,” Sally began. 

Larry looked up, stopping himself from putting his headphones back in. 

“Do you wanna come over and watch a movie tonight? I picked up ‘Saw’ at Blockbuster last night” Sally asked. 

“Oh um--” Larry could feel his heart begin pounding hard. “Sure! Sounds like fun.”

“Cool.” Sally had walked into the kitchen, then returned a few minutes later. He returned with a napkin with his address on it, and a small smiley face drawn underneath it. 

“Should I bring anything?” Larry asked, taking the napkin. 

“Your handsome self.”  
Larry didn’t know how to respond, but his face was now noticeably red. 

“See you at 7?” Sally asked, beginning to walk away. 

“Y-Yeah. See you then!” Larry stumbled on his words. 

\--  
It was currently around 6 PM, and Larry was pacing back and forth. He had probably thrown every shirt he owned on the floor, trying to find one that actually looked decent. He finally gave up and threw on a minimalistic black T-shirt, with a small Sainty’s Fall logo in the corner in white, cryptic font. With his regular jeans and sneakers, he’d been trying to figure out if this was ‘nice enough’. 

Pulling the napkin out of his pocket and the bus schedule off of kitchen counter, he looked over both things until he was able to figure out that the bus should arrive around 6:15. He double checked his bag, making sure he had everything he needed. A small sketchbook, a pencil and eraser, his wallet, some weed, his ipod and earbuds, his phone, and a pack of Oreo’s for Sal. With that, he headed out the door and down to the bus stop. 

During the bus ride, Larry sat quietly, hands in his pockets and earbuds in his ears. He hadn’t ventured much around the city, and definitely not to the more residential area where Sal lived. He bounced his leg anxiously, chewing slightly on his bottom lip.  
Once again, his thoughts were bouncing around in his head. If Sal was inviting him on a date, he’d say it’s a date, right? They were just friends, but the two of them, alone, watching a horror movie? That’s like asking for it to be a date. He could hear his own heart pounding in his ears, even with his loud music.  
He thought about each time he’d smoked with Sal, all the stories they’d told, all the inside jokes they’d developed, how he usually ended up passing out as Larry’s place every time… Was he spending the night at Sal’s place? If so, where would he sleep? Would he sleep on the couch? They’d never shared a bed before on purpose, every time they did, it had been them passing out on opposite ends of the mattress, or one of them on the floor next to the mattress. What if Sal asked if he wanted to share a bed? Would he say yes? Did Sal sleep in pajamas? Usually he always took his shirt off to sleep, sometimes he’s kicked his jeans off too; Did he sleep-- 

Larry crossed his legs. Tightly. 

Awkwardly, he cleared his throat, looked down, and waited until his stop. 

\--  
When his stop had come and Larry had made the walk from the bus stop to the house, it was now about an hour later. He’d no longer had the embarrassing problem he did on the Bus, but that didn’t stop his anxiety from almost spilling over.  
As he took in the spring air, smelling the leftover rain on the asphalt and sidewalk, he looked around at how nicely all of the trees looked. Attempting to focus on his surroundings in order to calm himself, his looked down at the napkin that he’d been worrying in his hands. “1486…” He repeated to himself, mumbling the house number. “1482...1484…” And he stopped, seeing the mailbox with the number, ‘1486’ on the side. He paused, looking up and inhaling hard, and exhaling hard. “You’re okay. You got this.” 

He approached the door, walking up the porch. The house was two stories, and looked fairly nice from the outside. The lawn was well managed, the porch lacking any furniture, though. As he walked up, he brought his hand up to the front door, going to knock. 

For a moment, he paused. 

What if he was about to fuck everything up? What if he was about to ruin, literally everything? His anxiety began to spill over, regardless of his attempts to keep it at bay. He felt his stomach begin to churn, his heart begin to fall out of his mouth, his face begin to heat up. He turned around quickly and ran off the porch, standing quietly on the steps with his back to the door. Everything felt wrong-- what if this is what ruined the friendship him and Sal had been building, what if this was-- 

“Lar?” 

Larry shot his head up, turning around. Sally stood in the doorway, holding the door open. 

“O-Oh. Hey, Sally Face.” Larry turned around, his voice breaking slightly. 

“You alright, man?” Sally shut the door behind him, stepping out. 

“I’m...I’m fine.” 

Sally didn’t believe his words. He walked up to him, placing his hand gently on his arm. “Are you anxious?”  
Larry didn’t respond, only looked away. 

“Larry, you’re going to be okay. Do you want to smoke, maybe..?” 

No. He wasn’t going to be high right now. Not while he had a possible date with Sal. He was going to prevent fucking this up in literally any way he could. 

“No… I’m fine.” Larry replied, composing himself. 

“Are you sure?” Sally rubbed Larry’s arm just barely. 

“I’m sure, Sal.” 

“Alright. If you say so. Now come inside, Todd just made popcorn.” 

Larry felt confusion began to take over him as he followed Sally inside. As Sally opened the door, Larry could hear the sound of multiple people talking, and some unfamiliar voices. 

“Sawwy Face!” Yelled an excited toddler, bounding at Sally. Sally crouched down quickly with open arms, allowing the toddler to jump into his arms.  
“C’mere!” Sally laughed, holding the toddler tightly in his arms and standing up. He shifted the little girl onto his hip. 

Larry watched this little exchange, then shifted his attention to the rest of the room. 

In the kitchen, stood Todd and Neil, who were preparing different kinds of snacks.  
In the living room, sat Ashley in a bean bag chair, and a couple that Larry had never seen before.  
“Hey, Larry!” Ash waved, a bowl of chocolate covered pretzels in her lap. 

“Hey Larry, glad you could make it.” Neil walked over to the living room, carrying a bowl of popcorn. 

“H-Hey!” Larry waved a bit, then returned to clutching the strap on his bag. 

“Larry, this is Soda, my unofficial niece, and her parents, Chug and Maple.” Sally gestured to the couple on the couch. “Soda, say Hi to Larry.” 

“Hi to Warry!” Soda giggled, tucking her face against Sally’s shoulder. 

“Hello!” Larry smiled at Soda, giving a shy wave. Soda waved back. 

“Hey, how’s it goin’?” Chug raised a hand towards Larry. 

“Hello there.” Maple said, smiling just barely. 

Larry looked around, seeing everyone interacting, and how many people there were. Apparently, it wasn’t a date at all. Not even a little bit. 

Larry wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. 

\--

The group was currently waiting for Todd and Neil, who were upstairs doing lord knows what. Larry say on the couch, Sally next to him, with Chug and Maple on the other side of them. As they waited, the DVD player was paused on the first frame of the movie, Ashley holding the remote. 

As Larry worried his hoodie sleeve in between his fingers, he was startled a bit by Soda suddenly crawling into Sal & Larry’s laps.

“Uncle Sawwy Face!” Soda sang. 

“Yes, Soda face?” Sal brought his face close to Soda’s, smiling behind his mask. 

“Hi!” Soda giggled.  
“Hi!” Sally exclaimed back. 

Larry smiled softly, watching the two interact. Sally looked over at Larry, then looked back to Soda. Sally now held Soda in his lap, running his fingers through her messy hair gently. 

“She’s cute.” Larry mused, looking at Soda. 

“She gets her looks from her mom.” Chug said, wrapping an arm around Maple lovingly. 

“It’s kind of funny...But, Sal, half of me thought she was yours at first. She loves you a lot.” Larry reached his hand out to Soda, who grabbed his finger and giggled. 

Sally let out a chuckle, but his happy attitude was interrupted by Chug. Chug let out a belly laugh, shaking his head.  
“This guy? A dad? No way. Guy’s never boned once in his life!” Chug laughed loudly. 

Sally snapped his head towards Chug, a look of slight anger in his eyes. “Chug!” He lashed towards Chug. Soda climbed off Sally’s lap, and made her way into Ashley’s lap, who welcomed her warmly. 

“Sorry Sally Face, but it’s true!” Chug chortled, giving Sal a shove on the shoulder. “You’re like a rarity in this group! Me and Maple have a kid to prove it, Ashley’s probably boned before, and hell, Neil and Todd are probably boning right now.” 

Ashley covered Soda’s ears. “Chug, stop it. Leave poor Sally alone.” 

At this point, Sally was leaning over himself, his hands gripping his ponytails tightly. His eyes closed, he just stayed completely silent as Ashley and Chug went back and forth. His grip continued on his ponytails, feeling as if he was about to reach a boiling point.  
Larry placed a gentle hand on Sally’s back, leaning close to Sally’s ear so he could quietly whisper to him while Chug and Ashley yelled at each other. Ashley defending Sal, and Chug trying to explain how to ‘Take a joke’. 

“Sally, it’s alright. Are you okay?” Larry said softly to Sal. 

Slowly, Sally sat up, looking at Larry. Larry couldn’t distinguish if Sally was still angry, or sad. His eyes showed no specific emotion. “I’m fine.” 

“I’m sorry, Sal.” Chug awkwardly apologized. “I didn’t mean it like--

“It’s fine. Let’s just watch the movie.” Sally interrupted Chug, leaning into Larry. 

Larry could feel his heart begin to pound a little faster. With Sally being at perfect chest height, Larry could very well tell that Sally most likely heard how fast his heart was pounding. 

\--

Neil and Todd had come back downstairs about 5 minutes later, and with that, they started the movie. Larry expressed his worries about a child as young as Soda watching ‘Saw’, but Maple expressed that this was Soda’s second time seeing it. 

As the movie went on, Larry didn’t even realize how gory the movie was. He often found himself tucking his head behind Sally’s, who would occasionally chuckle and pat Larry on the thigh as a sign of reassurance.  
But during a particularly suspenseful scene in the film, where a jumpscare had taken the entire group by surprise (Except for Chug, Maple and Soda of course), Sally jumped, his hand clutching tightly onto the fabric of Larry’s T-shirt.  
“S-Sorry..” Sally whispered to Larry, slowly letting go of his shirt. 

“Are you scared?” Larry whispered back. 

“Sort of. It’s my first time seeing this.” 

“Want to… Want to hold my hand?” Larry offered, holding his hand out flat next to Sal. 

Sal looked up at Larry, then smiled, placing his hand gently into Larry’s. 

“Get a room, you two.” Todd whispered harshly at Sal and Larry.  
Larry just smiled, holding Sally’s hand for the rest of the movie. As the time passed, Sally found his head resting against Larry, his eyes getting a bit heavy with each scene. Larry found himself doing the same, his body growing heavy, and Sal’s presence overall comforting him. 

\-- 

“Goodnight, Ash! Drive home safe, alright?” 

“Will do, night Todd, night Neil!” 

The front door shut. 

This is what Larry heard, slowly waking up out of his daze. He began to hear the sound of dishes being washed in the kitchen, and soft talk among Todd and Neil. It was the movement in his lap that suddenly jolted him awake. Larry inhaled hard, his body tensing and his eyes opening fast. He looked around, seeing Sally begin to sit up… from his lap. Apparently, they’d fallen asleep so hard during the movie, that Sally’s head had fallen into Larry’s lap as they slept. By this time, everyone had gone home, and Neil and Todd were cleaning up. 

“Oh look, sleeping beauty and sleeping beauty are awake.” Neil said happily, looking over from the kitchen. “Hey you two, about time you woke up. Everyone’s gone now.”  
Sally sat up more now, placing his hand on Larry’s thigh to steady himself. “Wha…” As Sally sat completely up, drool fell out of the bottom of his mask, landing on himself. “Ah..” Sally was barely awake, but stood up, stumbling out of the room and into the bathroom. 

Larry yawned hard, looking around for some sort of clock. “What time is it?” 

“About 10. You two were out for quite a while. You spending the night, Larry?” Neil asked, walking over with a dishrag in his hand. 

“Uh… I might, yeah. If that’s alright.” Larry’s voice was rough. 

“Cool. You might want to wipe that dried drool off your chin though before you get any ideas with Sally.” 

“Wha--” 

“I’m just teasing you.” Neil laughed. 

“You coming, Neil?” Todd called, turning off the kitchen light and beginning to head upstairs. 

“Be right there. Have a good night, Larry.” Neil flashed a wink at Larry, tossing the dishrag to the kitchen table and heading up the stairs. 

Larry sat awkwardly, staring at his own hands in his lap as Sally returned from the bathroom. “Oh, did they go to bed?” 

“Yeah.” Larry replied, standing from the couch. 

“You spending the night?” 

“If that’s alright with you.” 

“Yeah, it’s fine. My bed is a little cramped, though.” Sally admitted, pulling his hair out of his ponytails. 

Larry was quiet, feeling his hands begin to get clammy. “I uh… I can sleep on the couch.” 

“No man, I always make you sleep on the couch at your place. It’s fine. Besides, Todd and Neil get up way too early.” Sally began heading over to his door. “Come on. I’ll show you my room.” 

Larry nodded softly before grabbing his bag and following Sally. As he made his way to Sally’s room, every single thought he had from the bus began going through his head. All of the anxieties, all of the general worries, every single fear and thought and--  
Fuck. 

Larry adjusted his stance slightly, pulling his shirt down a bit and shoving his hands into his pockets. As he walked into his room, he attempted to distract himself with the different things in his room. He looked over his wall, seeing all the different posters and masks he had hanging up. He also looked at the display of different glass eyes, and a few bits and pieces of drug paraphernalia. 

“Do you wanna smoke?” Larry asked, placing his bag on the floor. 

“You can-- I’m sort of tired. I don’t care if you smoke in here.” Sally nodded, pulling his shirt off over his head, and quickly grabbing a hoodie from the floor and throwing it on, unzipped. “I don’t know if I have any pajama pants that will fit you, but you can sleep in your boxers, I don’t really care.” 

Larry felt his hands get clammier. Larry sat down on the bed, diverting his eyes from Sal as he changed into his pajama pants. As Sal pulled his pajama pants up completely over his boxers, he walked over to his bookshelf, pulling a graphic novel off the bookshelf. He returned to the bed, sitting down cross legged against the pillow and opening the book to a bookmarked page. 

Grabbing the joint from his bag, Larry decided to sit across from Sal, also cross legged. He lit the joint, taking a hard inhale. As he exhaled, Sal looked up from his book. “Okay, give me a hit.”  
Larry smiled, passing the joint. 

\--  
As Sally had been going on about the movie ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ and how it should be appreciated more than it is, it had been a couple hours since they first started the joint. Larry was listening intently, taking the second to last drag off of the joint.

As he went to hand it to Sal, Sally pulled his mask down so he could look at the joint. “Last hit, for me? Awh, you shouldn’t have.” He smiled. 

Larry smirked at Sal, leaning close to him. “You better share that, Sally Face.” 

“Planned on it, Larry Face.” And with that, Sally pushed his mask up. 

Like clockwork, Larry leaned close to him as Sal took the last hit. Leaning his face right in front of Sal’s, Sally placed his hands on either side of Larry’s face. His lips brushing against Larry’s, Larry parted his lips for Sally, inhaling the smoke he blew into his mouth. As the boys parted, Larry was left wanting more, but knowing it wasn’t something currently in the realm of possibilities. 

“It’s like you enjoy teasing me.” Larry began, his words unfiltered due to his inebriated state. 

“What do you mean?” Sally asked. 

“You always smoke kiss me like this--”

“It’s not a kiss.” Sally cut him off. 

“Yes it is!” 

“No dude. It’s not.” Sally insisted. 

“Yes it is Sal! You always get so close and your lips touch mine and it’s like you’re kissing me. Yes it i--” 

Sally placed his hand hard on the back of Larry’s head. He pushed his face gently to his. Larry’s head was spinning, unsure of what was going on so suddenly. But next thing he knew, Sally had pressed his lips against Larry’s.  
Sally’s scarred lips gently pressed against Larry’s chapped lips, Larry melting into him. Slowly, Sally pulled away, a bit breathless. 

“That’s a kiss, Larry.” Sal whispered. 

Larry was stunned. He didn’t know what to do, or what to say. He had no response… except… 

Larry pushed his lips into Sally’s again, Larry’s weight suddenly throwing Sally onto his back. His mask lifted a bit more, Larry’s eyes closed as he continued to kiss him passionately. Sally placed his hand on the back of Larry’s head, throwing his legs up and wrapping them around Larry.  
Larry broke the kiss for a moment to catch his breath. Sally panted as he laid underneath Larry, grabbing his mask and pulling it down a bit to hide anything above his mouth. 

“Is this…” Larry began between breaths. 

“This is okay, Larry…” Sally replied, answering Larry’s question before he even finished it. 

“Good, because I like this a lot.” Larry smirked a bit, going back in and deepening the kiss. Sally traced his tongue slightly along Larry’s bottom lip, Larry parting his lips slightly. As their kisses grew deeper, this continued for longer than one would assume. 

Larry had been tangling his hands in Sally’s baby blue hair, and Sally would place his hand on the back of Larry’s head.  
This continued for a while, until Larry had absent mindlessly pulled at Sally’s hair.  
“A-Ah!” Sally let out a moan into Larry’s mouth, gasping a bit. “F-Fuck, Larry!” He moaned. 

“S-Sorry!” Larry pulled away quickly, letting go of Sally’s hair. “Did I hurt you?!” 

“N-No...I…” Sally turned his head to the side, pulling his mask down a bit more. “We should… We should stop.” 

“Okay! No worries, that’s fine, Sal.” Larry climbed off of Sally, proceeding to lay next to him. 

Sally was quiet, turning onto his side, facing away from Larry. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Finally, Larry spoke up. 

“Sal…? Did… Did I do something wrong?” Larry said gingerly. 

“No, Larry… I’m sorry. I just… I was worried if we kept going I…” Sal’s voice was so quiet, it was barely audible. 

“No… Sal don’t worry. I understand. I… I don’t ever want to do anything you’re not comfortable with.” 

“That means a lot, Larry.” 

“You’re like, my best friend man. I want you to be happy and comfortable, dude.” 

“You’re my best friend too, Larry.”

“Do you want to get some sleep?” 

“Yeah… That sounds good.”

And with that, Sally had turned the lights off in the room, taken his eye out, and gotten back into bed. Larry stayed in his clothes, too worried to get into his boxers. As he laid next to Sal, who still had his mask on, he couldn’t help but begin to question their relationship. What just happened? And…

What did this make them?


	6. Text Messages & Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Larry begins to question his feelings for Sally.

As steam rose up from the hot water, Sally leaned his head down, water hitting the back of his head and neck. His long blue hair hung past his face, his eyes closed and his breathing soft and quiet. He stood like this for a while, considering turning the shower to cold in order to wake him up. 

In his foggy mind, he remembered hazy pieces of the night before. Rewinding his memories were like searching for them underwater, and all he remembered was his lips pressing hard up into Larry’s, and the feeling of Larry’s hands searching along his body, and how fucking heated it felt. Sally brought a hand up to the back of his head, tangling his fingers softly in the back of his hair. He gave himself a soft tug, feeling none of the pleasure he’d felt when Larry had done it. So… What was it about Larry that set something off within him? 

 

He opened his eyes, watching the water falling into the drain. He reached down, turning off the shower and standing there for a few more seconds. 

As he got out of the shower and toweled off, he wrapped the towel around his waist. Opening the medicine cabinet, he grabbed multiple different bottles of prescription medications. Some were for his physical problems, and some were for his mental problems-- but at this point, he couldn’t keep track. As he took his medications and vitamins and any other things he needed to put into his body, he looked at himself in the mirror. He wiped away the steam, revealing his being to himself. This was what looked back at him every morning, and he wasn’t sure how he’d ever feel about it. 

 

Sally let out an exhale through his nose, staring at himself in the mirror. Scars and marks and old gashes littered his face, and he was sometimes worried about touching his own face, fearing it would hurt like the way he did when it was little…

 

\--

_ “Dad! N-No!”  _

 

_ “Sally, it’s alright. We have to change the bandages like the doctors said, buddy.”  _

 

_ Henry was so tired. His eyes were heavy, and alcohol was one of the only things present to help ease the pain of seeing his son like this. The only thing he had left in his life, was mauled and disfigured, and currently crying out in pain and fear.  _

 

_ Sally’s small hands pushed away his father’s hands the best he could, leaning away from him violently. He hated the feeling of the air on his face, his skin being exposed, the way his father would look at him when his bandages were off. But with all of the pain medications in his system, he was unable to completely avoid this.  _

_ He would never be able to completely avoid this.  _

 

_ As Henry unwrapped the bandages, the room seemed colder and harsher to Sally. He cried out in fear, his small hands shaking and attempting to push away his Father’s.  _

_ Henry slowly peeled the bandages away from his skin, spots of blood plastered on the white gauze. He took the bandages and threw them into the trash, looking at Sally, then getting up to leave to grab the rest of the gauze.  _

_ “Don’t move buddy, I’m gonna get your new bandages, alright?” Henry assured Sally, offering a sad smile before he left.  _

_ Sally’s lip quivered as he sat quietly on the bed. He didn’t speak.  _

 

_ But the longer Henry was gone, the longer Sally was exposed and curious.  _

_ Slowly, he slipped off the bed, stepping into the bathroom. He grabbed the step stool he used to reach the sink, sliding it carefully in front of the sink. He stepped up on it, looked into the mirror, and felt his blood run cold.  _

_ Tears began to fall from his eyes, his entire body quaking at he stared back at someone he didn’t know. His salty tears stung against his wounds. He brought an unsteady hand cautiously up to his skin, his small fingers slowly pressing against his skin. He felt a shock run through his entire body, every muscle tensing tightly. His fingers had brushed against his raw nerves, exposed and new upon his disfigured face. His skin was tender and vulnerable, similar to how he felt on the inside as well.  _

_ His legs gave in out of fear and shock, and the step stool slid out from underneath him. He reached out to the sink, desperately grabbing onto it for help… Desperately grabbing onto anything to keep him from falling… _

 

\-- 

Sally’s hands clenched hard on either side of the sink. His knuckles white and body trembling slightly. His vision was blurry for a second, and his heart rate was incredibly high. He couldn’t tell if he was still wet from his shower, or if he was sweating profusely. His breathing was hard and audible, and his head hung down slightly. He quietly swore under his breath, his hands refusing to let go of the sink. 

He had moments of losing himself, and finding himself in his younger body. He’d mentally fall into another time in his life. It was like dreaming, but Sally was usually awake for it and instead of the situations being made up, it was just events he’d already lived through. This one was one of the worst ones, though. He hated touching his face, or having his face exposed in general. The day he got his mask was the day he had finally found his face again. 

 

After a while of grounding himself, mainly through self taught breathing exercises, he’d found himself feeling alright and level headed enough to finally start his day. His stomach was slightly upset at the moment, due to how he’d just taken his medications and not eaten yet. He usually ate right after, but his episode had put a pause in his daily routine. 

With the towel around his waist, he stepped out of the bathroom and into his room to grab his clothes, mask, and put in his eye. As he walked into the bathroom, he looked up-- 

 

And totally fucking forgot that Larry was there. 

 

“F-Fuck.” Sally stuttered anxiously, feeling his body heat up. He turned his head away, his hair covering most of his face. He then realized his arms were exposed, which were covered with scars as well. “Can you look--”

 

“I’m looking away, you’re alright dude.” 

 

Larry had been sitting on Sally’s bed. He’d woken up during some time while Sally was in the shower, and was currently sketching. The subject of his sketch this morning was actually Sal’s eye as it sat in the cup next to the bed. 

When Sally had came out of the bathroom, the first thing he noticed is that Sal was shirtless-- not the fact that his arms were scarred or that he didn’t have his mask on, but the fact that he was just really fucking cute when he was shirtless. But… To Larry, Sal was cute all the time, but a little bit more when he was shirtless. 

He didn’t see much of Sal’s face, but he felt a feeling of worry in his stomach at Sal’s arms, though. He wasn't going to say anything, and just turned his head away, and covered his eyes. He wanted Sally to be as comfortable as possible, and he felt a bit bad that he didn’t consider that Sal would come out of the bathroom without his mask or clothes. 

 

“I’m sorry, I should’ve went into the living room or something, dude.” Larry said, hearing Sally begin to go around the room gathering his clothes and whatnot. 

“It’s fine…I just forgot you were here.” Sally said, slipping on his shirt and boxers.

“I’m not used to hearing your voice so clearly.” Larry joked a bit, attempting to ease the obvious anxiety in the room. 

This earned a bit of a chuckle from Sally. “I guess so, huh?” 

“It’s nice.” Larry began.

“What do you mean?” Sally paused, beginning to worry his flannel in his hands. 

“I like your voice… It’s nice to hear it so clearly.” 

Sally looked at Larry, even though Larry was still sitting with his head turned away and eyes covered. As he looked over at Larry, he noticed the sketchbook in his lap. 

“Did you draw my eye?” Sally asked, stepping over and picking it up out of his lap. 

“I did. I thought it was cool.” Larry admitted, feeling Sal’s presence in front of him. 

 

Sally set the sketchbook back into Larry’s lap, then proceeded to slip on his flannel over his t-shirt and his red skinny jeans. Once he was finally dressed, he put his eye in and slipped his mask on. 

“Alright, you can look again.” 

 

Larry uncovered his eyes and opened them, looking to see the Sally he knew. “What a nice reveal.” He teased. 

Sally threw his arms out to his sides in an exaggerated motion. “Ta-Daaa.” He said in a monotone voice. Larry laughed. 

Sally approached the bed, sitting next to Larry and looking at the sketch again. “Can I keep this one?” 

“Oh uhm. Sure!” Larry had finished it a while ago and had just been adding extra little details here and there. He carefully pulled the page from the sketchbook, handing it to Sal. 

Sal took it, grabbed a pushpin from a box on his dresser, and tacked it up on his wall. 

“Thanks, man.” He said, returning and sitting next to Larry. 

 

The room was uncomfortable quiet, as both Larry and Sal began to remember the events of the previous night. 

“You know you don’t have to wear that around me, right?” Larry looked over at Sal. 

“What? My face?” Sally looked back at him. 

“I mean… I don’t care what you look like, under there. I like you for you, Sally Face.” 

“For all you know, I could be a swarm of bees under here.” Sally deadpanned. 

This earned a snort from Larry, shaking his head. “Shut up, dude.” 

“You shut up.” Sally laughed, punching Larry in the arm. 

Larry punched Sally on the arm in response, but because of their obvious size difference, Sally accidentally lost his balance and fell back a bit on the bed. 

“Fuck! Sorry dude!” Larry laughed, going to help him sit up. Sally took his hand, sitting up a bit. 

 

“You want breakfast?” Sally asked.

 

“Always, dude.” Larry nodded. 

 

\-- 

 

During breakfast, Sally had been breaking off small pieces of toast and slipping them up under his mask. Usually around Larry or Todd or Neil, he was pretty open about slipping his mask up a bit to eat. But this morning where he’d accidentally faced Larry without his mask was a setback. As he quietly sat and ate, Larry sitting across from him with a bowl of generic cereal, there was little conversation. 

 

A large, fat cat had entered the kitchen from the basement, pawing at one of the cabinets and meowing loudly. At that moment, Todd walked into the kitchen and opened the cabinet, pulling out a can of wet cat food. 

 

“I got some new info on The Witch’s Castle, Sal.”  Todd mentioned to Sal, opening the can of cat food. 

 

“Oh, yeah? Did you finally upload those photos?” Sal asked, turning to look at Todd. 

“I did. There’s no apparitions in any of them, but there’s a lot of corruption on the files. I printed them out along with some articles of other accounts of paranormal activity there.” Todd emptied the cat food into a bowl on the floor, the fat cat immediately chowing down. 

 

“Sweet. I’ll head into the shed and look at them when I’m finished eating.” Sal replied, taking another piece of toast into his mouth. 

 

Larry was completely unsure of this conversation was even in English. “I’m… lost. What’s a witches castle?”

 

Todd pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. “It’s one of the many paranormal hotspots in Oregon. It’s a small structure along a hiking trail said to hold restless spirits and energy.” 

 

“And you guys are investigating it why?” Larry tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“We hunt ghosts.” Sally said bluntly, his mouth full. 

 

“You hunt ghosts?” Larry wasn’t sure he was hearing that correctly. 

 

“Indeed.” Todd nodded. 

 

“Sally, why didn’t you tell me that, dude?” Larry asked, setting his spoon down. 

 

“It never came up.” Sally shrugged. 

 

Larry was unsure of what to say, but just looked away. He stood up and took his bowl, placing it in the sink. “Do you guys know what time the bus shows up around here?” 

 

“Nonsense. I’ll drive you back to your apartment, Larry.” Todd offered. 

 

“Oh-- uhm. Are you sure?” Larry shoved his hands in his pockets. 

 

“Yes, it’s fine. I needed to drive out that way today anyways.” 

 

“I’m gonna go check out the photos, Todd.” Sally stood up from the table, turning towards Larry. “See you later?” 

 

“Yeah… See you later, Sal.” 

 

\-- 

 

The drive was fairly quiet, Larry sitting awkwardly in the passenger seat as Todd drove. 

“You seem uneasy, Larry. Is something bothering you?” Todd asked, glancing at Larry for a moment. 

 

“Oh, what? No… I’m fine.” Larry’s mind was drifting as he stared out the window. 

 

“It’s very easy to tell when someone is lying. What is on your mind?” Todd asked. 

 

Larry figured it would be too difficult to lie to Todd, so, he decided to be honest with him. “I… I’m just in a weird place about my feelings towards Sal.” 

 

“Are you romantically interested in him?” Todd raised an eyebrow. 

 

This caught Larry off guard. He cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks begin to heat up. “I mean… I guess? I really like him… And… Well, we kind of made out last night, I guess?” 

 

Todd stifled a laugh. “You two made out?” 

 

“You trying to make me say it again, dude?” Larry narrowed his eyes towards Todd. 

 

“No no, I’m just surprised. I’ve known Sally since our Freshman year of high school, and the only person I’ve ever known him to kiss is Ashley. I’m surprised he let you kiss him.” 

 

“He kissed me-- He made out with Ash?” Larry was taken aback. 

 

They stopped at a red light, and Todd looked at Larry, his eyebrows raised. “He kissed you?” 

 

“Yes, he kissed me. He kissed Ash?” 

 

“It was our senior prom. I believe Sal became uncomfortable after kissing her and they never took it much further. But regardless, he kissed you?” Todd looked back at the road and continued driving as the light turned green. 

 

“Yeah… He did. Why is that so weird?” Larry was confused. 

 

“Sal isn’t the type to seek relationships with intimacy or romantic involvement. He’s very private and closed off when it comes to romantic intimacy.” Todd adjusted his glasses. 

 

“And how do you know that?” Larry began to sweat a bit, raising an eyebrow at Todd. 

 

Todd glanced at Larry from the corner of his eye. “Get those disgusting ideas out of your head. I’ve been with Neil since high school, and Sally isn’t my type. But if you must know how I know, it’s from years of just studying him, I assume.” 

 

“Sorry, sorry… You study your friends?”

 

“You don’t?”

 

Larry sighed, leaning back into the seat. “I just… It’s weird. I keep getting these bizarre mixed signals from Sal. It’s like one second, he wants me then the next, we’re just friends. I don’t know what to do, dude.” 

 

“Well, assuming how Sal has been so closed off to romantic relationships, he may just be looking for some form of physical pleasure out of pure instinct. He hasn’t had any kind of physical relationship since Senior Prom with Ashley, as far as I know.” 

 

“So I’m his fuckbuddy?” 

 

Todd cleared his throat. “If you must call it that, in a way, maybe. I can’t speak for Sally, but I wouldn’t throw that out as a possible option.” 

 

“I’m his fuckbuddy.” 

 

“Have you two had sexual intercourse?” 

 

“Wha-- No! But… We made out… and… He sleeps over a lot, and he smokes my weed a lot and--” 

 

Todd interrupted him. “It’s called being a friend, Larry. He’s a friend that you had platonic intimacy with. I’m not sure that Sally will ever want to go much further than that, unfortunately.”

 

“I…” Larry couldn’t form any sort of sentence, leaning down a bit further in the seat. “Thanks, Todd. I’m glad I had someone to talk to.” 

 

“Anytime, Larry.” 

 

\-- 

 

The rest of the drive home was quiet. Once Larry had gotten home, he immediately took a long, cold shower. Currently, he laid sprawled out on his couch, the towel barely covering his waist. He was currently watching another rerun of That 70’s Show, mainly because he’d dropped the remote and didn’t feel like picking it up. 

 

His phone buzzed, and he picked it up off the coffee table. He flipped it open, and the notification read: 

**1 NEW MESSAGE FROM - Sally**

Larry stared at his phone… And closed it, placing it back on the table. 

 

Currently, many thoughts were running through his head. But one of the main thoughts that Larry was focusing on was what Todd had said about Sally and relationships. While Larry was never expecting a relationship with Sally, he was expecting something. 

Sure, he loved being around Sally and the rest of the group, and he didn’t want to mess up the relationship they had. 

 

**But he couldn’t get the taste of Sally’s tongue out of his goddamn mouth.**

 

He couldn’t get the feeling of Sally’s lips off of his, or the feeling of Sally’s pretty blue hair off of his hands. He couldn’t shake the feeling of Sally’s hands gliding up his sides, and he couldn’t get rid of feeling Sally’s fingers tangled gently in his brown locks. He couldn’t cool off from feeling Sally’s body heat. He couldn’t unhear the sounds of Sally’s moans, and he couldn’t unfeel Sally’s hot breaths and panting against his face. He couldn’t unsee Sally’s beautiful eyes staring up at him, with his long eyelashes and icy blue eyes. 

 

He couldn’t fucking get him out of his goddamn head. He was fucking in love with him, and he hated it. 

 

He felt his heart beat fast as his mind wandered, tasting Sally on his lips and mentally feeling him on top of him. Was it wrong of him to be thinking of his best friend like this? 

Larry didn’t have time for a moral compass. 

His hands wandered as his eyes shut tight, sliding his hands down his body. 

He leaned his head back over the arm of the couch, allowing his hands to wander. 

“Fuck, Sal…” He breathlessly whispered. 

 

\--

Sally had been sitting in his room, messing around with his guitar. With his mask off, and only in a T-shirt and boxers, he was essentially making it a lazy day. He rarely got days off of work anymore, so when he did, he usually just hung out and relaxed. Bored and a bit lonely, he grabbed his phone, flipping it open and texting Larry. Simply he texted, “whats up”, and nothing more. As he waited for a response, he set down his guitar and laid down on his bed. 

 

He didn’t get a text back. He set his phone to the side, staring up at his ceiling. He let his thoughts begin to wander, but attempted to steer his mind in the right direction when it started going into bad territory. 

Many things were on his mind at the moment, but one particular thought was on his restless brain: 

Larry. 

And last night, specifically. 

 

He closed his eyes, his hand absentmindedly gripping gently at his sheets. He thought about how earlier in the shower, pulling his own hair did nothing for him, and yet, when Larry did it, it did  _ everything  _ for him. He felt slightly bad about stopping things with Larry so abruptly the night before, but truth be told, he got scared. 

His cheeks grew red as he thought about Larry on top of him. He thought about how he looked at him with those half-lidded sleepy eyes, lust and love filling his eyes. He thought about how his hair would fall down past his face and how it framed his face so beautifully. He thought about that cute gap in between his two front teeth, and how cute it looked when he smiled. He thought about how he was so good at being flirty, but got so flustered when he was being flirted back at. 

 

He thought about how he wanted him. 

 

Not like… Sexually wanted him. Because while that was something on Sal’s mind, he realized how he’d never really found someone to call his. He thought about how, while him and Ash had formed a bit of a romantic relationship near high school graduation, it never felt completely right. He thought about how when he looked at Larry, something felt completely right. He didn’t know how to explain it, and he desperately wanted to find something to grab onto to give him guidance. Because right now, he was going in on his feelings towards Larry completely blind, and he wanted help. 

 

He continued to think about the night before, and the feeling of Larry’s fingers tangling his hair and yanking it. Slowly, he intertwined his fingers in his hair with one hand, and slid his other hand down his body, past the elastic waistband of his boxers. He took a good handful of his own hair, thought about how Larry had pulled on it, and pulled at his own hair. 

“Fuck..! Larry…!” He gasped out. 

 

\--

.

.

.

It had been a few days, and Larry hadn’t left his apartment. Every meal was soda and sandwiches, and he wasn’t sure if he was just being antisocial, or avoiding Sally. He’d found himself painting day and night, and sleeping at weird hours for strange amounts of time. He was currently working on a painting a bird swooping down and gripping a rabbit in its talons-- something more on the dark side of his work. A lot of his recent paintings had been pretty dark, actually. 

He was drowning in his own thoughts. Currently, Larry was a ticking time bomb of his feelings; his cocktail of homesickness, loneliness and mixed feelings about Sal was the perfect combination for an emotional disaster. He kept painting until he would eventually fall into his bed from pure exhaustion. He did this to keep his mind off of Sally and everything revolving around him. 

 

He wanted to be with Sally, but he couldn’t ever get a clear enough read on how Sally felt. Todd’s words were still stuck like glue in his head every time he thought about ever possibly being with Sally, and he felt as though he didn’t even stand a chance. He felt used, discarded, and his view of himself was diminishing with each brush stroke, depression nap and soda drank. 

 

Currently, he was laying on the mattress, facing the wall and curled up a bit. He was listening to an acoustic album from a favorite metal band of his, staring at some pencil stick figures Sally had sketched on his wall many weeks ago. He hadn’t showered in a few days, and his oily hair was currently up in a messy bun on the top of his head. Dried paint covered his face, arms, legs, and most other exposed skin. His paint stained Nirvana shirt was undoubtedly gross smelling, and the only thing he’d changed in the past few days was his boxers.

His phone buzzed, and he rolled over slightly, picking up the phone and flipping it open. He read the notification, his tired eyes staring at the screen: 

 

**29 UNREAD MESSAGES FROM - Sally** **  
  
**

He closed the phone, setting it to the side and closing his eyes. 

 

As he drifted off to sleep, he was clutching the blanket next to him. He couldn’t help but feel himself wanting to cry, but was completely unable to for some reason. He didn’t know what to do with himself, and felt as though he was fucking up the only good thing he’d ever found. 

  
  


-

“Larry?” 

 

His front door opened, causing Larry to jolt awake. He looked up, seeing Sally in his work clothes, standing in his doorway with the door open. 

 

“How’d you get in here?” Larry asked, his voice rough and groggy.

 

“I was knocking, but it was unlocked.” Sally had a paper bag in his hand. He shut the door behind him and locked it. 

 

“Oh…” Larry didn’t realize he hadn’t locked the door. 

 

“Are… you alright? We haven’t seen you in days?” Sally stepped into the kitchen, setting the bag down on the counter. 

 

“It’s only been like, 3 days.” 

 

“Larry it’s been a week.” 

 

Larry looked at Sal, eyes wide. “I guess I didn’t notice.” 

 

“I was worried. I’ve been texting you and calling you every day.” 

 

“I guess I didn’t notice.” Larry repeated like a broken record, lying through his teeth this time. 

 

“It’s fine… Have you eaten?” 

 

“I don’t remember the last time I did.” 

 

Sally stood quietly for a moment, his eyebrows drawing together out of worry. “Ash made you some food… Here.” He got up on the counter for a moment to open one of the cabinets, grabbing a plate. Getting off the counter, he pulled a sandwich from the bag, placed it on the plate, and walked over to Larry. “Come on, you need to eat.” 

 

“I’m… I’m fine.” He mumbled. 

 

Sally stared down at him. He set the plate down on the floor next to the mattress. 

 

“Larry…” 

 

Larry was silent. 

 

Sally crouched down, getting at eye level with him. “Larry, what’s wrong? You know you can talk to me.” 

 

“Can I…?” Larry blurted out, turning his head away quickly, realizing what he’d just said. 

 

“What?” Sally responded, confusion in his voice. 

 

“I… I don’t know what you want from me, Sally.” Larry stood up now, beginning to aimlessly wander around. 

 

Sally stood, watching Larry as he walked around. “I don’t know what you mean.” 

 

“You know exactly what I mean, dude.” Larry’s eyebrows furrowed, his voice suddenly taking on a tone of frustration-- one that Sally had never heard before. 

 

“I really don’t,  _ dude _ .” Sally mimicked Larry, watching him closely. 

 

Larry brought his hands to his face, rubbing his hands on his face for a moment. “I mean, I don’t know what you want! One minute you’re fucking making out with me, and the next, you… You’re just treating me no different than Todd or Ash!” Larry began to raise his voice. 

 

“Treating you like Todd or Ash? Treating you like my friend?” Sally cocked his head to the side. 

 

“Yes! Because that’s all I am to you, is your friend, Sally! Because that’s all I’ll ever be!” Larry yelled. 

 

“You haven’t done anything to make me consider you more than that!” Sally was beginning to lose his cool. 

 

“Friends don’t fucking make out with each other!” Larry slammed his hands down on the kitchen counter out of frustration. 

 

Sally paused completely. 

 

“Fine…I guess you’re right.” Sally collected himself, his voice calmer now. 

 

“No fucking shit, dude!” 

 

“What do you want, Larry?” Sally calmly asked. 

 

“I… I don’t know!” Larry threw his hands up.

 

“What do you want, if you don’t want this? If you don’t want my friendship like this?” 

 

“I don’t know!” He anxiously yelled. 

 

“What do you want, Larry?!” 

 

“I want you! Sally! I want to be more than friends, okay?! I want to fucking date you! I’m tired of these fucking games! Just fucking, let me fucking be with you, okay?! That’s what I want, Sally! That’s what I fucking want!” Larry screamed, his voice cracking and tears beginning to form in his eyes. He suddenly brought his hands up and clasped his hands over his mouth. Larry’s face was one of shock, unable to believe he even said that. He could hear his heart in his ears as he stood there in shock. 

 

Sally stood there, attempting to process what Larry had just screamed at him. Larry looked like a scared dog that had just frightened itself with its own bark. Sally and Larry both stood completely frozen, Larry letting out soft sobs, muffled by his paint covered hands.

Sally had about a billion thoughts rushing through his mind at once. His face felt hot, his skin felt tight, his heart felt like it was beating too hard, and his palms felt sweaty. He wanted to move, to say something, to do something. He couldn’t function for a moment, and he felt like he was losing control of himself. He felt like he was dreaming, as if he was beginning to lose himself again, but it wasn’t until Larry had began to cry harder, did he finally break out of his dissociative state. 

He ran up to Larry, wrapping his arms around him tightly, gripping his shirt tightly. Larry slowly dropped his hands back down to his sides. He tilted his head down, pressing his face onto the top of Sally’s head. The two stood like this for a while before Sally finally let go of him. 

 

“I…” Sally couldn’t find the words for a moment. “I’ve never been good… at… Relationships or dating or liking people in general. I’ve never been able to find… romantic interest in someone… Until you.” He began, looking away awkwardly. “There’s just something about you, I guess, that makes me comfortable. So I guess you could say I feel the same way. I want to fucking date you too, okay? I’d like to be with you, too, Larry.” 

 

Larry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

 

For a second, he thought he was dreaming. 

 

“Slap me so I know this is real.” Larry looked down at Sal.

 

“What?” 

 

“Slap me so I know this is real.” Larry repeated. 

 

Sally reached up, gently slapping Larry on the face. 

 

Okay, this was real. 

 

Larry wasn’t sure what to do or say. All he knew, is that in this moment, right here, with Sally, he knew it was the start of something new. Without thinking fully, Larry placed his hands under Sally’s arms, Sally beginning to verbally protest as Larry suddenly lifted him up onto the kitchen counter. 

 

“Hey wait-- What are you--” Sally began as he was suddenly being lifted onto the counter. 

 

“Thank you.” Larry looked at Sally right in his eyes, that soft, goofy smile coming to his face. 

 

“Yeah…” Sally couldn’t help but smile in response to seeing his smile. 

 

“Are we really doing this?” Larry asked, looking directly at Sally. 

 

“Yes. But you have to take me on a date tomorrow.” Sally deadpanned. 

 

“...Seems fair.” Larry nodded. 

 

“Seems fair.” Sally leaned close to Larry, placing his forehead against his. 

 

“So, it’s a date?” 

 

“It’s a date.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello everyone! Sorry that I haven't updated in a while! I've actually been busy with more Sally Face related stuff! (If you're curious, I've been cosplaying as Larry with one of my friends as Sal! We recently started making content on TikTok! @Walking_on_nebulas if you wanna check it out!) 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Chapters will be coming out a bit slower now, though, since my college semester has officially started. And just to let you all know, I've changed the rating on this fic from teen and up to mature!   
> Also, I decided to take advice from a comment and actually throw some stuff from Sal's POV in this chapter! Let me know what you think, and if I should keep both of their POVs in mind going into future chapters!  
> See you all next chapter! Please let me know what you think! <3 Thanks!  
> -Scout


	7. Guys Can Wear Skirts, Too.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally & Larry go on their first date!

 

Larry sat up slowly, swinging his legs over the edge of the mattress. His feet knocked a few empty Snapple and beer bottles over. He had yet to actually clean up from the mess he’d created during the depressive episode he’d had over the past week. He’d finally showered the night before and spent about an hour working conditioner in his hair, getting out all the tangles and knots. 

 

He still felt like he was in a dream. 

 

He’d pulled his phone from the floor, flipping it open, and reading the notification:

 

**1 UNREAD MESSAGE FROM: Sally <3 **

 

He read the message, a soft smile coming to his face. 

 

**‘ready for 2nite larry face ???’** Read the message. 

 

**‘i just woke up sally face’** He texted back. 

 

His phone pinged almost immediately after he sent the message. 

 

**‘ur sleep schedule is literally the worst’** Sally replied. 

 

**‘do u expect any different ???? ;)’** Larry replied. 

 

**‘no, not rly.’** Sally texted back. 

 

Before he could type up a response, his phone buzzed again. 

**‘C u @ 6?’**

 

**‘U got it :)’** Larry replied. He glanced over at the time, seeing that it was 4PM. 

 

He decided to use his time wisely, getting up and taking another shower. He’d shaved a bit, cleaning himself up to look less ragged, including trimming his facial hair slightly. He decided to blow-dry his hair, something he rarely did, and put on some Old-Spice cologne that his mom bought him a really long time ago. One fully cleaned up, he was wandering, naked, around his apartment, looking for an outfit for tonight. 

Since he wasn’t rushing this time, he actually took some time picking out his clothes. This weird aura of calmness was washing over him, as if he had nothing to freak out about. It’s true, he’d felt as though a huge weight was lifted off of him since the night prior where the two finally exchanged mutual feelings; but tonight was their first date! He was actually beginning to grow nervous at the fact that he wasn’t nervous. 

 

As he slipped on a pair of ripped black skinny jeans, a black Sanity’s Fall shirt (of course), and a red unbuttoned flannel over top. He slipped his sneakers on, checking his phone: 5:15 PM. He nodded confidently to himself. He took the time to run over to the corner store, picking up a little something for Sal in hopes of making a good first-date impression. 

 

Once back at the apartment, he’d been sitting on his kitchen counter, tapping his fingers anxiously against his knees. He kept relaying the plans of the night over and over in his head. First, Larry and Sal would go bowling with the rest of the friend group. This included Todd, Ash, Neil, Chug, and Maple, who would be bringing Soda. Then, Sally and Larry planned to get dinner together, alone, and see where the rest of the evening would take them. It was a simple plan, nothing too wild or out of the ordinary-- but something kept burning at the back of Larry’s anxious mind. What if something went wrong? What if he said something stupid? What if he totally blew it? What if-- 

 

There was a knock at his door. 

 

There was no time for his worries, right now. All he wanted was to focus on having a happy, carefree night. As he slipped off the kitchen counter, he walked over to the door, swallowing his anxieties. He opened the door, planning to say some witty, flirty one-liner to set the mood for the evening. But, instead, Larry’s eyes widened slightly, his face instantly flushed red, and his lips parted a bit. 

 

Before him, stood Sally. Sally was clad in a long-sleeved black shirt, layered underneath a grey Sanity’s Fall t-shirt. He wore his shirts tucked into a knee-length blue and green floral skirt, with black and white striped knee-high socks and blue converse. His hair was tied up into two ponytails, and he smelled… really, really nice. He smelled like a mix of laundry detergent, some kind of soft floral perfume, and shampoo. 

 

Larry was awestruck. He wanted with every single fiber of himself to compliment Sally. He was so in love with this look, and everything about him at that moment. And while Larry couldn’t tell, Sally was smiling underneath the mask. 

 

“You’ve… Got a skirt on!” He managed to say, his voice cracking a bit. 

 

Sally stifled a chuckle. “Yeah? And?” He took a part of the skirt fabric in his hand, swaying it a bit. “Guys can wear skirts, Larry.” 

 

“Y-Yeah! I know! I just…” Larry began to sweat a bit. “You look… You look really nice. The… Flowers… I like them..” He stuttered out, his face probably bright red at this point. “Oh!” He suddenly blurted out. “Speaking of flowers! I uh…” Larry stepped over to the kitchen for a moment, grabbing a single red rose off of the counter. “F...For you.” He handed it to Sally, his hand shaking slightly. 

 

Sally smiled, taking the rose. He felt his cheeks heat up slightly. He let out a soft, happy laugh. “Thank you Larry…” He looked up from the rose, his eyes meeting with Larry’s. “I love y-- it. I love the rose.” Sally cleared his throat, stepping into the apartment and into the kitchen. He grabbed a semi-clean glass, filled it with water, and carefully placed the rose in it. He left it on the counter, then turned back to Larry. 

 

“You ready to go? Todd’s waiting.” Sally asked. 

 

“Yeah-- but..” Larry looked over at the rose in the cup on the counter. 

 

“Don’t worry, dude. We’re coming back here tonight, right?” Sally took Larry’s hand, beginning to lead him out of the apartment. 

 

“R-...Right!” Larry began to sweat profusely. Thank god he was wearing a fuck ton of deoderant. 

 

\--

The car ride over to the bowling alley was anything but quiet. Neil and Todd were going back and forth at each other over who won the last bowling match, while Ashley was attempting to interject herself into every wrong statement said. Sally would include his sassy comebacks and one-liners, while Larry sat quietly, internally screaming as Sally’s hand rested on his thigh. Larry was tensed up completely, attempting to use the mental grounding exercises his mom had taught him. 

 

“You good?” Sally softly asked Larry, his voice quieter than usual amongst the conversation in the car. 

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I’m fine.” Larry smiled at Sally, obviously tense. 

“Hey. We’re gonna have a good time, alright?” Sally reassured, placing his hand on top of Larry’s. 

Larry exhaled hard, offering a genuine smile at Sally this time. “Alright.” 

 

“I did not get 7 fucking gutter balls in a row last time!” Ashley laughed and yelled, breaking the moment of intimacy between the two lovestruck dorks. 

 

“Oh yes you absolutely did, Ashley!” Todd remarked. 

 

“Ash, sorry girl, but you are the queen of gutterballs.” Neil laughed, turning slightly in his seat and looking at ash. 

 

“I’m gonna kick your ass this time!” She competitively exclaimed. 

 

“In your dreams, hun!” Neil shook his head. 

 

Slowly but surely, Larry was beginning to realize that tonight was going to be an excellent night. 

 

\--

 

“And that’s another strike!” Sally triumphantly yelled, his voice muffled even more under the crashes of pins and rolling of bowling balls. The bowling alley was loud with chatter and music, but that wasn’t going to stop Sally from enjoying his date. He returned to the chairs, sitting down next to Larry and slipping the straw of his drink up under his mask. 

 

“How are you so good at bowling?!” Larry laughed, in complete disbelief. Sally currently was in the lead with a 96, while Larry was at a meager 53. Neil was close behind Sally with a 93. Chug was in third place, holding a 75. Behind him followed Todd with a 65, Maple with a 57, and Ashley with a 42. 

 

“I’m just  _ that good. _ ” Sally narrowed his eyes at Larry, playfully getting close to his face. 

 

“ _ Tell me your secrets. _ ” Larry replied, getting his face even closer to Sally’s. 

 

“ _ Never. _ ” Sally slyly replied, a smirk resting on his lips. 

 

Larry playfully and quickly kissed the lips on Sal’s mask, causing Sal to blush for a moment, pulling back and laughing. 

 

“Hey!” Sally laughed, punching Larry in the arm softly

 

“Break it up, lovebirds. It’s your turn, Larry.” Maple said bluntly, a gentle smirk on her face as she watched Larry and Sally. She held Soda on her hip, who was watching Larry as he stood up. 

 

“Lawwy!” Soda squeaked at Larry. 

 

“What’s up little miss?” Larry crouched down slightly, getting at eye level with the toddler on Maple’s hip. 

 

“Good luck fist bump!” She exclaimed, putting her fist out. 

 

“Hell yeah, dude!” He fist bumped Soda, making an explosion sound with his mouth as he pulled his fist away. Soda giggled loudly, a grin on her face. 

 

As Larry stepped up to take his shot, Maple sat down next to Sally in Larry’s empty seat. She set Soda down in Sally’s lap, Sally instinctively wrapping his arms around Soda. 

 

“Are you and Larry an item now, Sal?” Maple asked, picking her beer up off the table and taking a sip. 

 

“Sort of. Tonight’s our first official date.” Sally ran his fingers through Soda’s messy hair. 

 

“You two fit together well.” Maple nodded, leaning back in the chair. “He’s a good guy.” 

 

“I like him, a lot. It’s strange because, i’ve never liked anyone like this before. How did you know you liked Chug when you two got together?” Sally asked, looking up at Maple. 

 

“Jeez, I don’t really remember…” She leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling. “Probably around the time he actually started making an effort to spend time with me and make me happy. He did weird little things like offer me food and rent me movies and stuff… And he just… I think it was his dumb, happy smile that got me to finally fall. Because when I was sad, that stupid, cute fuckin’ smile always made me happy…” 

 

Sally listened quietly, his own thoughts swimming in his head at Maple’s words. As he listened, he thought about Larry’s goofy grin, and how it always made some weird, happy feeling rise up in his stomach. He was smitten, that’s for sure. “I get ya…” Sally mumbled, looking over at Larry. 

 

“Y’know, Chug also just… gave me a lot of things.” Maple continued. “Not like material things, but happiness. He gave me happiness, purpose, love, affection--” 

 

“And Soda.” 

 

“That’s true.” Maple leaned over, stealing Soda out of Sally’s lap. “Gave me that too.” 

 

“How?” Soda asked, looking up at her mother, then Sally. 

 

“Your parents--” Sally began.

 

Maple threw her hand over the mouth on Sally’s mask before he could take that sentence a step further. “Finish that statement and you can say goodbye to your pigtails, Sally Face.”

 

Sally laughed, snorting a bit. “What?! I was just gonna say--”

 

Sally was interrupted by the crash of pins, and the sounds of Larry and the rest of the group all cheering loudly. 

 

“I got a strike!” Larry yelled, throwing his arms up in the air. 

 

“Oh shit! Awesome!” Sally jumped up from his seat, running over to Larry. 

“Fuck yes!” Larry, with a wide smile on his face, instinctively wrapped his arms around Sally. He picked him up off the ground, swinging him around a bit. Sally laughed loudly, his arms tightly wrapped around Larry’s shoulders. For a moment, Larry stopped swinging him, now holding Sally off the ground. Their faces barely an inch apart, the two stared into each other’s eyes. 

For a moment, the pair forgot about the world around them. They forgot about the sounds, the lights, everything. But quickly, they were both snapped back into reality. Their faces both light shades of pink, Larry set Sally back down on the ground. 

As Sally quickly made his way back to his chair, Neil stepped up and grabbed his ball for his turn. He lightly punched Larry in the arm, smiling at him. “You’re doin’ great, dude.” 

Larry couldn’t tell if Neil was talking about his bowling or his date, but he had a feeling it was about the date. 

 

\-- 

The group now stood outside of the bowling alley in the parking lot. Larry stood with his arm casually draped around Sally’s shoulders. 

 

“Damn Sal, you beat us all again.” Neil looked at Sally, who was standing with his hands on his hips. 

 

“I can’t help it, man. I’m just better than all of you at bowling.” Sally shrugged. 

 

“Well, it’s not hard to beat Ash.” Larry smirked. 

 

“Larry, do you like your eyebrows?” Ashley shot daggers with her eyes at Larry. 

 

“Y...Yes?” Larry nervously swallowed. 

 

“Good. You can keep them… for now.” Ashley stepped a bit closer to him. 

 

“Odd yet specific threat…” Larry nodded. 

 

“Well, we should let Larry and Sally continue the rest of their evening.” Todd adjusted his glasses. 

 

“Sounds good. We’ve gotta get Soda home.” Maple said, looking at Soda, who was sitting on Chug’s shoulders. 

 

“Todd, Neil, wanna go try that new Chinese place that opened up next to the mall?” Ashley asked, tilting her head at the pair. 

 

“Sure! Sally, call one of us if you guys need a ride home later, alright?” Neil slapped Sally’s back lightly. 

 

“Sounds good, catch you all later.” Sally nodded, waving a bit to Maple and Chug as they left with Soda. 

 

“Have fun you two!” Ashley sang, leaving with Todd and Neil. 

 

As the rest of the group finally left, it left Larry standing with his arm around Sally. Sally looked up at Larry, a comfortable silence between them. 

 

“Hungry?” Sally asked. 

 

“Starving.” Larry replied. 

 

“Pizza?” Sally suggested.

 

“Can you read my mind?” 

 

“I’m never telling you my secrets.” 

 

The pair made their way through the strip mall, walking along the sidewalk. Larry had slipped his arm off of Sally’s shoulders, slipping his hand into Sally’s. The two walked quietly together, Larry swinging their arms a bit. 

Their cheeks stayed a continuous shade of pink, not many words spoken between them as they walked. As they entered the small pizza restaurant, they were greeted by the hostess. 

 

“Hey! How many?” The hostess asked. 

 

“Just two.” Sally held up two fingers. 

 

The waitress went to grab the menus, doing a sudden double take once Sal had spoken. His voice was very masculine compared to his appearance. The hostess grabbed two menus, bringing them over to the table. 

 

“Your server should be right over.” She smiled, giving them each a menu and leaving. 

 

“Thanks.” Larry grinned.

 

“What’s your favorite kind of pizza?” Sal asked. 

 

“You first.” Larry set down his menu, looking at Sal from across the table. 

 

“We both say it on three?” Sally set his menu down as well. Larry nodded in response.

 

“1...2...3..” Sally began. 

“Meat lovers!” Larry announced.

“Hawaiian!” Sally exclaimed. 

 

They stared at each other, narrowing their eyes at each other. 

 

“...How dare you.” Larry leaned over the table at him slightly. 

 

“Sorry that I have a more sophisticated pallet than an 8 year old.” Sally snidely remarked. 

 

“How dare you!” Larry repeated, acting shocked. 

 

They both stared at each other with such tension, but both suddenly broke into laughter moments later. Sally snorted a bit, doubling over a bit out of laughter. Larry wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes from laughing so hard. 

 

“Okay, okay… But seriously. Let’s do Hawaiian.” Sally was still laughing slightly. 

 

“Dude, no way.” Larry shook his head, crossing his arms. “You couldn’t get me to eat that.” 

 

“Hi! Can I get you two started with any drinks?” The waitress asked as she approached the table. 

 

“I’ll have a Sprite, with a straw, please.” Sally ordered. 

 

“I’ll do a Coke.” Larry nodded. 

 

“Sounds good!” The waitress scribbled the drink order down on the notepad. “Are you guys ready to order your food?” 

 

“We need--” Larry couldn’t finish his statement. 

 

“A large Hawaiian pizza.” Sally interrupted, knowing Larry’s social anxiety wouldn’t let him correct the waitress. 

 

“Alright! I’ll go put that order in for you!” The waitress said cheerfully, leaving the table. 

 

A look of betrayal crossed Larry’s face. 

 

“How… could you…” Larry stared directly at Sally. 

 

He could tell Sally was smirking. 

 

\--

Their pizza and drinks arrived about 25 minutes later, the pair filling up the passing time with conversation and lively antics, like Sally balling up straw wrappers and throwing them at Larry, or Larry leaning over and flicking Sal’s blue ponytails. 

 

Once their pizza arrived, Sally warmly thanked the waitress. Larry, on the other hand, looked like a distraught toddler. Larry crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at Larry. 

 

“You’re sick if you think that I’m gonna eat that.” Larry deadpanned. 

 

“Call me sick, then.” Sally took a piece of pizza off the plate, placing it on his own plate. He grabbed a knife and fork, beginning to cut it into small pieces. 

 

“I’m not eating it-- What… are you…” Larry watched as Sally cut the pizza into the small pieces. 

 

“I don’t wanna eat Pizza like this, Lar. If I could violently shove this pizza into my mouth, I one hundred percent would.” Sally looked up at him, slipping the pizza on his fork under his mask. 

 

“Fair enough.” Larry felt his stomach growl a bit, the pizza smelling delicious and his mouth watering slightly. “Fuck it.” 

 

Sally watched with minor excitement as Larry slipped the pizza onto his plate. Cautiously, he took a bite. He then paused for a moment, swallowed, no distinguishable emotion on his face. He then proceeded to take another bite, then another, and next thing he knew, he was finished with that piece and going in for a second. 

 

“You like it!” Sally exclaimed, giggling slightly. 

 

“Yeah, sure, I guess it’s pretty good.” Larry rolled his eyes, starting on his second piece. 

 

“I knew you’d like it!” Sally smiled. 

 

“Whatever, yeah. Never speak of this to anyone, Sally Face.” 

 

“Fine, whatever you say Larry Face.”

 

\-- 

As the two had finished their meal and paid, they were getting ready to leave and finish their night. As Larry and Sally stood from the table, Sally began making his way to the bathroom. 

 

“Gotta piss.” Sally said nonchalantly, entering the mens bathroom. 

 

“I guess I do too.” Larry shoved his hands in his pockets, following Sally. 

 

Awkwardly, they took their spots at the urinals, keeping a reasonable distance from each other. Larry stifled his chuckle as he watched Sally grab the bottom of his skirt and hoist it up in an animated fashion. He quickly proceeded to divert his eyes, going about his own business. Another restaurant patron exited one of the stalls, stepping over to the sink and washing his hands. As the man looked up into the mirror, he saw Sally, blue pigtails, skirt and all, standing at the urinal. In a quietly shocked manner, he looked at Larry, seeing only his incredibly long hair. The man panicked slightly, not even drying his hands as he walked at a fast pace out of the restroom. 

 

This earned a chuckle from both boys. 

 

\-- 

While waiting for Todd and Neil to come pick them up, Sally leaned against the window of a closed store, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. 

Larry’s hand hung down next to Sally’s, Larry reaching out his long, nimble fingers and brushing them softly against Sally’s. Sally slowly slipped his hand into Larry’s, his hands so much smaller than Larry’s. 

 

“You should really do something about Travis if he pisses you off that much, Sal.” Larry looked over at Sally, continuing a conversation they’d been having.  He took the cigarette from Sally’s mouth and placed it in between his own lips. 

 

“I don’t see a point on wasting my energy on him.” Sally rolled his shoulders slightly. 

 

“Well, if that asshole ever fucks with you while I’m there, i’ll kick his fucking ass.” 

 

“Larry, you really don’t have to--”

 

“No, I’ll fuck him up! No one fucks with my boyfriend and gets away with it!” Larry was so heated for a moment, he didn’t even realize his choice of words.

 

Sally was quiet, pulling his mask down so he could fully look at Larry. 

 

“Your… Boyfriend?” He said softly, liking the feeling of that word on his tongue. 

 

Larry was silent. 

 

He turned his face away from Sally, the cigarette hanging from his lips still. He brought his free hand up, covering part of his face in embarrassment and shame.

 

“I...I--” Larry stuttered out, holding the cigarette between his fingers but leaving it in his mouth. 

 

“I like the sound of that.” Sally smiled up at Larry. 

“You…do?” Larry turned slightly back towards Sally, his heart beating fast. 

 

“I do.” 

 

He turned back towards Sally, Sally pulling the cigarette from Larry’s lips.

 

“Can I kiss you right now?” Larry said softly, stepping closer to Sally, slowly slipping one of his hands around Sally’s waist. 

 

“Why do you think I took the cigarette out of your mouth?” Sally pushed his mask up just enough to expose his lips. 

 

Larry leaned down slightly, Sally letting go of Larry’s hand and wrapping his arm around Larry’s shoulders. Their lips met in a soft, blissful touch. Larry pressed deeply into the kiss, Sally’s sneakers scuffing slightly against the sidewalk as he was just barely being lifted by Larry’s arm around him. 

They continued to kiss, Sally nipping slightly at Larry’s bottom lip every so often. Larry would smirk into the kiss, deeping it before Sally could take the chance to. He wasn’t good at leading, but when he found a rhythm or technique that worked, he certainly used it to his advantage. 

 

The two were startled out of their impromptu makeout session by the sound of a car horn honking, Larry jumping a bit, breaking the kiss. He unwrapped his arm from Sally’s waist, Sally’s feet falling flat on the concrete. Sally pulled his mask down quickly, throwing the cigarette on the ground and putting it out with his foot. 

 

They saw Todd and Neil had pulled up, Neil softly laughing and shaking his head a bit, with Todd looking slightly annoyed. 

 

As the two climbed into the car, they both held an embarrassed silence. 

 

“Sorry, we didn’t see you pull up.” Sally apologized. 

 

“Obviously.” Todd said bluntly. 

 

Awkward silence. 

 

“Did you two have fun?” Neil asked. 

 

“Yeah! Did Ash go home?” Sally replied. 

 

“Yeah, we dropped her off after dinner.” 

 

\--

The ride was fairly quite until Neil and Todd had begun having a conversation with each other, on a topic that neither Larry or Sally could jump in on at any time. With that and the sound of the radio, the two were sitting quietly in the backseat, saying nothing. 

 

Larry’s hand rested on the middle seat, his fingers quietly drumming against the seat to the beat of the music. But as Sally had been staring out the window, watching the lights of the city flash past them, Larry took this opportunity to practice a bit of confidence. Slowly, Larry slid his hand over to Sal’s thigh. Sally jumped a bit at the sudden touch, Larry looking over at Sally for any kind of response to his actions. 

Nothing. 

He looked at the floor in thought for a moment, before he cautiously decided to begin to rub his hand up and down Sally’s thigh gently. He continued staring at Sally. 

Nothing. 

Finally, he slowly slipped his hand upwards more, nervously rubbing his hand right next to his crotch area. 

Finally.

Sally let out a soft gasp, his hand that was against his chin forming into a fist. He closed his eyes, using his other hand to place it on top of Larry’s. 

Larry stared at Sally, waiting for him to open his eyes. Sally finally glanced over at Larry, Larry raising an eyebrow in response. This non-verbal communication was beginning to confuse Larry, until Larry could see from just Sally’s eyes, that he was smirking. 

Larry rubbed the area his hand was in, earning a soft shiver from Sally. Larry smirked in response, feeling pleased with himself. 

 

“Alright, you two, we’re here.” Todd stopped in front of the apartment, putting the car in park. 

 

“C-Catch you later, Todd, Neil.” Sally cleared his throat, taking off his seatbelt and opening the door. 

 

“Thanks for the ride!” Larry nodded, taking off his seatbelt and following Sally, shutting the door behind him. 

 

Quickly, the two made their way up the the apartment. Larry quickly unlocked the door, both of them getting inside, Larry kicking the door closed behind them. He instantly gripped Sal’s waist, placing him up on the kitchen counter. 

 

“What was that, huh?” Sally teased, undoing his bottom mask straps and slipping it up slightly. 

 

“You always fuck with me, I’m not allowed to do it to you?” Larry teased, his face read and his body hot. 

 

“You said you’d fuck up anyone who fucked with your boyfriend.” Sally raised an eyebrow.

 

“Fuck me up, then.” Larry instantly pressed his lips against Sally’s, earning a joyful squeal from Sally. 

As the two continued their heated make out session they’d put on pause earlier, Sally tangled his hands in Larry’s hair. Larry threw his flannel off and onto the floor, breaking the kiss only momentarily to pull his shirt off too. 

As he returned to the kiss, one of his hands made his way to Sally’s hair, gripping what he could. 

 

“L-Larry…” Sally breathed out, his chest heaving slightly. 

 

“You alright?” Larry asked, looking at him with soft concern. 

 

“Y-Yeah… I just… Like...that.” Sally’s words went soft near the end, unable to fully enunciate his embarrassing confession.

 

“Y-You like what?” Larry continued to keep up his confident facade, his voice cracking slightly. 

 

“That…” Sally said softly again, unable to fully explain what he meant. 

 

“What, this?” Larry gave Sally’s hard a hard tug. 

 

“Ah!” Sally gasped, bringing a hand up to his mouth to stifle his noises. 

 

“Did I… Guess right?” Larry felt like he would die of heat exhaustion from how hard he was blushing and how hot his body was. 

 

“You sure did..” Sally laughed nervously. 

 

Larry smirked, returning into the kiss, Sally happily kissing him hard and passionately. As Sally gathered the fabric of his skirt in his hand, beginning to pull it up, they were suddenly interrupted. 

 

The front door opened. 

 

“Sal, you left your cellphone in the car--” Todd had entered, holding the cell phone. 

 

They both froze completely, Larry whipping his head around and looking at Todd. 

 

“...Dude.” Larry’s voice was shaky. 

 

“...My apologies. Carry on.” Todd placed the phone on the counter near the door, and slowly walked out, shutting the door. 

 

Larry stomped over to the door, locking it. He felt as though he was literally about to die from pure embarrassment, if that was even possible. He placed his hands on his face, groaning loudly. But his momentary fit of embarrassment was interrupted by Sally beginning to laugh, and fuck, did he have the cutest smile when he laughed.

 

He’d never actually seen Sally’s smile when he laughed or just felt joy, and it was fucking beautiful. Everything about the beauty of Sally at this moment… He was awestruck. He walked over in front of Sally again, staring at his beautiful smile. He wanted to stop himself, but every fiber of his being pressed him forward in his actions. Slowly, he reached up, placing his hands on the back of Sally’s head. 

 

“W-Wait, hold on--” Sally stopped completely with his laughter, freezing up. 

 

Larry undid his mask, slipping it off and setting it to the side. 

 

He was fucking beautiful. Every scar, healed wound, healed gash, he was god damn perfect. 

 

Sally quickly brought his hands up to his face, attempting to cover his face. Tears started to form in his eyes as Larry looked at him, but Larry just smiled gently. He placed his hands on Sally’s bringing them away from his face. Larry leaned in and began to kiss him softly, holding his hands and rubbing his thumbs on the backs of Sally’s hands. 

Sally, tears streaming down his face, continued to kiss Larry, closing his eyes. He felt himself blushing hard, his heart racing, his hands shaking slightly-- 

But there was one detail he kept going over in his mind. 

 

Larry didn’t look away. 

Larry smiled at him. 

 

After a few moments of kissing him, Larry pulled away slowly and smiled at him. Larry let go of one of Sal’s hands, and brushed Sal’s bangs to the side slightly. 

 

“You’re beautiful.” Larry whispered, pressing his forehead against Sally’s. 

 

“Yo-You don’t mean that...” Sally replied, his voice shaking. 

 

“I do, Sally. I do mean it. I think you’re absolutely beautiful.” 

 

Sally turned his head to the side, his body still shaking. “L-Larry--” 

 

“Sally, I mean it. Would I ever lie to you?” Larry began to regret his actions, seeing how uncomfortable Sally was. 

 

“...No.” Sally quietly answered. 

“Sally… I know… you’ve been through shit. I know you don’t like talking about it but--...” Larry stumbled on his words, looking down for a moment. “But… I really like you. And I want you to know, I like you, mask or no mask. If you can like some dumb fuck like me, I sure as hell can like you, scars and all. It… doesn’t bother me, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Larry was spewing words at this point, unable to understand if he was making any real sense or not. 

 

Sally was silent for a good amount of time, causing Larry to freeze, staring at the floor. He felt as though he’d fucked up big time, and this time, it wasn’t fixable. Every bad feeling and scenario made its way into Larry’s mind, causing small tears to begin to well up in the corners of his eyes. Only did one tear escape down his cheek as Sally slipped his hands out of Larry’s-- but his tears were short lived. Sally suddenly wrapped his arms around Larry’s shoulders, and his legs around Larry’s waist. 

 

“S...Sal?” Larry whispered, watching Sally press his face against Larry’s chest. He wrapped his arms around Sally, letting his chin rest on the top of Sally’s head. 

 

“You’re not dumb…” Sally sniffled slightly, his tears wet against Larry’s chest. 

 

“I sure feel like it.. I mean I took off your mask without asking-- I should have never done that…” Larry mumbled softly. 

 

“I’m… not going to say it’s fine… but…” Sally was quiet for some time, thinking hard about his words. “If...You hadn’t done it, I don’t know when I would have.” 

 

“I’m sorry.” Larry’s words hung heavy. 

 

“Thank you…” Sally pulled away from Larry slightly, looking up at him. 

 

Larry smiled at him, holding him close. “You’re beautiful, and I fucking mean that.” 

 

“Shut up, dude.” Sally laughed. Fuck, he was the cutest thing in the goddamn universe. Seeing that whole smile, that whole laugh, it made Larry’s heart swell. 

 

“Do you wanna go lay down?” Larry asked, once again brushing Sally’s bangs to the side. 

 

“I mean step one is already done.” Sally said gesturing to the mask. He then proceeded to take his eye out. “There’s step two.”

 

“I’m… never gonna get used to seeing you do that.” Larry awkwardly said. 

 

“That’s fine. I didn’t expect you to. The longer it freaks you out, the more satisfaction I get out of doing it in front of you.” Sally grinned. 

 

Sally unwrapped himself from Larry, scooting over on the counter and grabbing a glass from the cupboard. He handed Larry the cup, who promptly filled it with water and held the cup in front of Sally. Sally placed the eye in the cup, in which Larry proceeded to set it to the side. Sally proceeded to pull the elastics out of his hair, his hair falling down against his shoulders. He brushed some of his hair in front of his face, looking away awkwardly. 

 

“Let’s go lay down, alright?” Larry wrapped his arms around Sally, leaning down and kissing his forehead. 

 

“Okay, but you have to carry me.” Sally smirked.

 

“Why do I have to carry you?” Larry laughed, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“Mask.” Sally deadpanned. 

 

Larry looked guilty for a moment. “Alright… fine. But you’re not allowed to hang this mask thing over my head forever, Sally Face.” Larry proceeded to lift Sally off the counter, holding him in his arms bridal-style. He carried him over to the mattress, carefully placing him down onto it. 

 

“There you go, princess.” Larry said sarcastically.

 

“Thanks, my knight in shining Sainty’s Fall T-shirt.” 

 

Larry looked down at himself for a moment. “I’m not even wearing it right now.”

 

“I know. I’m only half blind, remember?” 

 

Larry rolled his eyes with a smirk, before heading back into the kitchen. He grabbed his flannel and t-shirt he’d tossed onto the floor earlier, and turned off one of the room lamps on his way back to the bed. He threw the shirt to the side, then tossed the flannel at Sally. 

 

“Wha--” Sally began, immediately getting cut off. 

 

“You’ll probably get too hot in that sweater and… I know you like to sleep with long sleeves on.” Larry kicked his shoes off, then proceeded to pull his pants off so he was only in his boxers. 

 

Sally’s face grew red, looking up at Larry then back to the flannel in his lap. “I…” He smiled slightly, realizing just how much Larry cared about him. “Thanks.” He smiled gently. 

 

As Sally got undressed, undressing down to his boxers and slipping the flannel on, Larry went and turned off the last light in the room. Larry came back to the mattress, flopping down next to Sally and smiling at him. 

Sally laid down, looking at Larry. 

“...You’re staring.” Sally said, bringing a sleeve covered hand up to his face. 

 

“I know… You’re just cute.” Larry mused. 

 

Sally was silent, looking away. 

 

“Plus, I can finally see that cute smile, and how red your face gets when you blush.” Larry brushed a strand of Sally’s blue hair behind his ear. He rested his hand on Sally’s cheek. 

 

“L-Larry, cut it out.” Sally turned his face against Larry’s palm. 

 

“I’m sorry Sal…” Larry laid there, smiling sadly. “You’re just adorable.” 

 

“I’m not adorable.” He mumbled against Larry’s hand. 

 

“You are so.” 

 

“Say that one more time.” Sally voice was still muffled by Larry’s hand.

 

“You are adorab-- Ow!” Larry pulled his hand away, immediately feeling Sally’s teeth sink into his hand. “D-Dude!” 

 

Sally laughed, rolling onto his back and continuing his laughter. He snorted a bit, unable to contain himself. “You asked for it!” 

 

Larry immediately grabbed Sally, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He pulled the laughing blue-haired boy on top of him, Sally letting out an involuntary squeal. “L-Larry, come on!” He continued to laugh as he was pulled on top of him. 

 

“L-Larry?” Sally asked, his laughter pausing as he looked at him. Larry’s face was serious, no discernible expression present. “Dude, I’m sorry I bit you--” 

 

Before Sally could finish that statement, Larry immediately leaned up, pressed his mouth against the crook of Sally’s neck, and blew a raspberry against his skin. Sally laughed loudly, falling against Larry. Larry laughed, wrapping his arms around Sally tightly. 

 

“There’s no escape!” He playfully yelled as Sally squirmed against him. 

 

“You jerk!” Sally laughed breathlessly. 

 

The two continued their play fighting for some time, until finally, Sally fell completely breathless on top of Larry, who was panting slightly. The bed was warm from their body heat, both of their faces flushed. Sally quietly closed his eyes, nuzzling his face slightly against Larry’s chest. Larry closed his eyes as well, Sally’s head rising slightly with the rise and fall of Larry’s chest as he breathed. Larry absentmindedly laced his fingers in Sally’s hair, Sally exhaling softly and nuzzling into Larry’s hand. 

The two fell asleep together, breathing gently in unison. Something told them, that this wouldn’t be the last time they’d lay like this together. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I wanna give a lovely thank you to my best friend for helping me so much with this fic. A lot of ideas of soft stuff come from her, and she also designed Sally's outfit for this chapter!  
> I hope you all like this chapter! If you can, please leave me a comment letting me know what you think!   
> Thank you so much, and i'll see you all next chapter!   
> <3


	8. Hickeys & Self Esteem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (NSFW!) Larry and Sally wake up the morning after their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAIT!  
> This chapter is NSFW and contains highly sexual content and explicit material! If you don't want to read smut, feel free to skip this chapter! There isn't any content in this chapter that will be necessary to the rest of the story, so it is not required for you to read this chapter in order to keep up with the fic.  
> Happy reading!

The crisp morning air gently came in through the window, which Larry had cracked open during the middle of the night. Larry wasn’t used to such warmth when he slept, but with how Sally was clinging to him so sweetly during the night, he was much warmer than usual.  
The sun poured into the room, golden hues basking both boys in the warm morning sunshine. Sally made a small whimper in his sleep, Larry waking up slowly.  
Larry opened his eyes, the room looking blurry for a moment. He brought his hands up to rub his eyes, then proceeded to look down, seeing Sally clinging to his side and pressing his face against Larry’s chest. He watched Sally with a soft smile, feeling like he might’ve still been dreaming. Sally’s blue hair had fallen so delicately around his beautiful scarred face and onto Larry’s chest, and it shined slightly in the morning sun.  
Sally continued to whimper, exhaling hard out his nose for a moment. He was obviously dreaming, the sleeves of the flannel tightly clenched in his fists. Larry carefully placed his hand on Sally’s back, rubbing his hand gently up and down. But as Sally continued to whimper, one of his legs violently twitched for a moment, as if he was making movements in his dream that were carrying over to the real world.  
“Sal?” Larry whispered, his voice groggy and rough.  
Sally exhaled sharply again, still asleep. He groaned slightly, Larry furrowing his eyebrows as he watched him.  
“Sally?” Larry said, a little bit louder this time.  
“S-Stop!” Sally screamed, sitting up quickly. He threw his arms out in front of him, as if to block himself from some unknown threat.  
“Sally-- Woah! Dude, you’re alright!” Larry sat up, placing his hands on Sally’s shoulders.  
Sally’s chest heaved, his eye wide and a look of momentary fear on his face. Slowly, his facial expression softened, and he lowered his arms. His hands shook slightly as his arms fell down to his sides, he attempted to catch his breath, instinctively falling back into Larry’s arms.

“S-Sorry, I…” Sally managed, bringing his hands up to his face and covering it slightly.  
“Bad dream?” Larry held Sally close, wrapping his arms around Sally tightly.  
“Bad is…” He paused, shaking his head. “Bad is an understatement.”

Larry pressed his face into the crook of Sally’s neck, inhaling in his scent, his long blue hair tickling his face slightly. “You’re alright. It can’t get you, whatever it was.”  
“It was a dog, this time, I-I think.” Sally’s voice began to fall calm again, his hands shaking less.  
“There’s no dogs here.” Larry mumbled against Sally’s shoulder.  
“Thank God.” Sally managed a small smile, placing one of his hands on the back of Larry’s head.  
Larry lifted his head slightly, brushing some of Sally’s hair away from his shoulder before returning his face to his shoulder.  
“You’re safe, Sal.” Larry gently placed kisses along Sally’s neck and shoulder, earning a shiver from Sally.  
Sally chuckled, tangling his fingers in Larry’s long, brown hair. “I feel pretty safe.”  
“Mm.. Good.” Larry continued his kisses, his heart beating just about as fast as Sally’s, if not faster. As he continued to kiss him, he wasn’t sure if it was his confidence, or his groggy morning brain, but he found himself choosing to focus on a particular spot on Sally’s neck. He kissed at the skin for a moment, sucking on the skin gently. He waited for a response from Sally before going any further. Sally’s response contained a gentle whine, and his grip tightening on Larry’s hair. Larry proceeded, sucking harder on his skin, then beginning to take the skin between his teeth. He bit down on Sally’s tender flesh, earning a moan from Sally, which made him bite and suck a bit harder.  
As he continued to leave the love-bite on Sally’s flesh, he felt the lower half of his body grow hot and he found himself shifting slightly as he sat. Sally gasped out, bringing a hand to his mouth, then proceeded to yank slightly at Larry’s hair.  
“L-Larry-- Wait--” Sally choked out, moaning just barely.  
Immediately, Larry stopped. He looked at the decent bruise he’d left on his skin, then at Sally’s face. His cheeks were bright red, and he was looking down slightly. He seemed embarrassed, a sleeved hand covering his mouth.  
“Are you alright?” Larry was a bit breathless, but needed to make sure he wasn’t doing anything that Sally wasn’t comfortable with.  
“Y-Yeah, I just…” Sally let go of Larry’s hair, then grabbed the blanket, pulling it up to cover his crotch.  
Larry paused for a good moment, Watching as an embarrassed Sally covered his crotch with the thin blanket. It was like one could practically hear dial-up tones in Larry’s head as he watched Sally. Finally, it all processed for him.  
“Do... You…?” Larry found the rest of his question stuck in his throat.  
“S-Shut up.” Sally squirmed slightly, adjusting his legs.  
Larry couldn’t help but laugh a bit, shaking his head. “Dude… You have a boner.”  
“Dude, shut up!” Sally pulled out of Larry’s hold, shoving him playfully. “This is your fault!”  
Larry fell back on the mattress, his face red and that big, goofy grin on his face. “Sure, dude.”  
“Oh come on!” Sally laid back as well, the pair now laying next to each other. “You were just sucking at my neck like a vampire.”  
“I thought you liked it…” Larry looked at him, grabbing his side of the blanket and pulling it up as well.  
“I did but-- that’s not the point. The point is--” Sally paused completely, looking down a bit. “You… have a…”  
“Shut up!” Larry looked away, his face redder than before.  
“Hah!” Sally laughed triumphantly.  
Larry brought his hands up to his face, groaning loudly. “Stoooop!” He whined.  
Sally slowly ceased his laughing, exhaling out his nose. The two now laid there together, a heavy silence filling the room. The two laid there like this for a while, their hands falling down to their sides and their fingers occasionally brushing.  
Larry’s length pressed against the fabric of his boxers, Sally’s boxer briefs feeling like they were suffocating him. Larry ran his fingers along Sally’s fingers, both boys staring at the ceiling.

“Chug wasn’t lying, when he said I’d never done anything with anyone.” Sally finally broke the silence.  
“I didn’t think he was lying.” Larry replied, continuing to stare at the ceiling.  
“Like. I know enough. But I’m not very…”  
“Experienced?” Larry finished Sally’s sentence.  
“Yeah. That’s the word.”  
“Sally, do you think I’m any more experienced than you? You’re… literally my first… anything.”  
Sally finally looked over at Larry, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”  
“Y..Yeah. I wasn’t exactly super popular in high school.” Larry glanced over at Sally, then looked away again.  
“I’m glad I can be your first, then… Guess I’m lucky.” Sally said sweetly, squeezing Larry’s hand.  
“I’m… glad, too.” He squeezed Sally’s hand back.

The silence continued for a few minutes, the redness on both boys’ faces growing with each minute. The pair were both unknowingly doing the same thing; attempting to think of other things to get rid of their erections. But with how close they were in proximity to each other, and the heavy sexual tension in the room, there was no getting rid of their current arousals.

Larry swallowed hard. “Can— …. Can I kiss you again?” Larry didn’t make eye contact, he just stared at the ceiling. “I just. I really want to kiss you again right n—”  
He was cut off by Sally suddenly climbing on top of him and pressing his lips hard into his. With the way that Sally climbed on top of him, their most intimate parts were now touching. With how restrained Larry had been and how much he’d been craving for touch, he suddenly let out a moan into Sally’s mouth. Sally pressed his hips down against Larry’s, Sally gasping slightly at the touch.

Larry couldn’t find any words as the kiss was momentarily broken for the pair to catch their breath. Sally looked down at Larry for a moment, quickly feeling self conscious and turning his head to the side. Larry looked lovingly up at Sal, understanding how he was still so shy and nervous to the situation, and it was reasonable. Here Sally was, practically straddling his brand-new boyfriend. He wasn’t wearing his mask, he had barely any clothes on except for his boxer briefs and Larry’s flannel. He was vulnerable, and he was nervous.

“Hey…” Larry managed, placing a hand lovingly on Sally’s cheek. “You can put your mask back on if you need to. I won’t be upset.”

Sally continued to look off to the side, finding himself pressing his face slightly against Larry’s hand. He loved how gentle his touch was, and it always made him feel so safe.

“I…” Sally thought about it for a long moment. He closed his eyes, then shook his head softly. “No, I… I’m okay, for right now.”

“Are you sure?” Larry furrowed his brows, looking up at him.

“I… I think so. I feel alright with you right now.” Sally knew he trusted Larry enough to be around him without his mask. Although it was hard and anxiety inducing, he wanted to be just as comfortable around Larry as he was by himself.

“Let me know if you need to put it on, alright? I won’t be upset.” Larry brought up another hand, brushing his fingers through Sally’s hair.

“I’ll tell you, I promise.” Sally couldn’t help but smile a little bit.

At that moment, Larry brought Sally’s face down to meet his. With Sally’s head turned to the side, he began to leave soft kisses along his cheek, jawline and neck. Sally continued smiling softly, but let out a quiet moan as Larry began sucking at Sally’s neck once again. Larry had figured out how to leave a nice pretty bruise on Sally’s pale skin, and Sally seemed to like it quite a bit. So, obviously, Larry was going to be using his new-found skill to his advantage.

This continued for some time. Once one small spot of skin was red and purple and nicely bruised, he’d move onto another part. By this point, both boys were physically aching in their boxers, and Sally had hickeys along his neck, collar bone, and shoulders.

“W-Where’d you learn to give hickeys like that?” Sally laughed, raising an eyebrow at Larry. He was sweating profusely at this point, his body incredibly hot and toes curled.

“Don’t laugh.” Larry stopped sucking on a spot on Sally’s collar bone, leaving an unfinished hickey.

“I won’t laugh.”

“I used to… Like… give them to myself on my arms when I was younger. I thought it was funny…” Larry looked to the side out of embarrassment.

Sally snickered slightly.

“Hey! I said don’t laugh!” Larry couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Sally’s snickering turned into full on laughter. “S-Sorry! That’s just really cute! And it makes sense you’d do something like that.”

Larry reached up, quickly grabbing a fistful of Sally’s hair and yanking slightly.  
“L-Larry!” Gasped Sally, eye going wide as sweat glistened slightly on his body.

“I told you not to laugh.” Larry’s attempt at being any form of sexual fell through, considering in his attempt to deepen his voice, it cracked instead. He cleared his throat, obviously feeling awkward for a moment.

Sally giggled, which earned another yank at his pretty blue hair. Sally’s sweet giggle turned into a full on moan from Sally-- nothing like the soft muffled ones he usually let out. This caused Larry to keep his grip on Sally’s hair, Larry’s eyes wide as he watched Sally. Sally was on top of him, sweating, moaning, blushing, squirming as he held his hair.

“F-Fuck… dude.” Larry found himself audibly saying.

“L-Larry… I… Do you trust me?” Sally asked, looking down into Larry’s eyes.

“Yeah, dude… I do.” Larry nodded, his heart beating hard in his chest.

Sally nodded, sitting up. Larry’s hand slipped out of Sally’s hair as he sat up, Larry watching this beautiful mess on top of him. Sally grabbed Larry’s hands, pulling him up. As Larry sat up, he watched as Sally began to tug off his boxer briefs. Larry, nervous and feeling like his heart was about to pound out of his chest, followed in Sally’s actions. He lifted his hips the best he could with Sally straddling him, pulling his own boxers down. As he exposed himself to the other, Sally had fully exposed himself as well. While he felt in relief was suddenly replaced by nerves.  
Sally was breathing slightly hard, Larry wrapped up in his own mind that he didn’t notice how nervous Sally was as well.

“Do you need to stop?” Larry asked, voice shaking slightly.

“N-No. I’m alright. I just…” Sally looked away for a moment, then back at Larry. He then proceeded to shove his face against the crook of Larry’s neck. “I’m just gonna stay like this, okay?”

“You don’t want your mask?” Larry placed a hand on the back of Sally’s head, petting his hair softly.

“I’m okay, Larry. I promise.”

Larry was silent for a moment before nodding. “Okay…”

There was a short silence before Sally reached down and grabbed Larry’s hand. Larry allowed Sally to do as he pleased with his hand, but what he didn’t expect, (somehow), was that Sally had now placed Larry’s hand on Sally’s length. Larry froze completely, feeling Sally slowly wrap his hand around Larry’s cock. Larry tensed up completely, but immediately felt his tension melt away as Sally whispered softly into his ear.

“Are you alright?” Sally asked quietly, love coating his words.

“Y-Yeah.” Larry swallowed, nodding a bit.

Sally began to kiss Larry’s neck softly, then slowly started to side his hand up and down along Larry’s erection. Larry let out a moan, Sally smirking gently as he gained a reaction out of Larry. Larry gathered himself for a moment, beginning to jerk off Sally. Sally moaned out as well as they both held the most intimate parts of each other in their hands.

“S-Sal… Fuck, dude.” Larry whimpered, biting his bottom lip.

Sally breathed out, tightening his grip slightly and sliding his hand up and down faster. Larry followed Sally’s pace, merely mirroring his actions. Larry wrapped an arm around Sally’s waist, bringing the pair closer together so they were completely touching. Sally moaned against Larry’s skin, gasping out and lacing his free hand in Larry’s hair.

“P-Pull my hair.” Larry gasped out, spewing out the words without even thinking about them first.

Sally, without thinking, gathered up Larry’s long brown locks in his hand like a ponytail. He yanked hard, earning a loud, gruff moan from Larry. Larry tightened his grip slightly around Sally’s cock, pumping his hand faster. Larry was filled with so much pleasure at this moment, he wasn’t sure if he was still dreaming or not

“Y-You like that?” Sally’s attempt at dirty talking was nothing less than adorable.

“Yes, d-dude. I fucking love it.” Larry’s voice was rough and filled with lust. He felt like in a moment he was going to lose himself, but he didn’t want this moment to ever end.

Sally continued to jerk off his beautiful messy boyfriend, going faster and faster with each passing moment. He yanked hard at Larry’s hair once more, then proceeded to sink his teeth into the tender skin of Larry’s shoulder.

“F-Fuck fuck fuck--” Larry groaned out, feeling himself growing close to climax.

“I’m gonna--” Sally choked out, bucking his hips slightly into Larry’s hand.

Larry’s head fell back slightly, Sally pressing his forehead hard against Larry’s shoulder.

“S-Sal, I’m cumming.” Larry panted, his words breathless as he furrowed his eyebrows hard and shut his eyes tight.

“M-Me too-- A-Ah!” Sally moaned out hard, his small body trembling slightly.

The pair moaned out loudly, Larry gripping the fabric of Sally’s flannel tightly. Larry came first, accidentally climaxing hard against Sally’s stomach. Sally followed suit, finishing onto Larry’s stomach.

The pair sat there in each other’s grasp, breathing heavily and feeling complete euphoria. Larry fell back onto the bed, taking Sally with him. As the pair fell, Sally let out a soft squeal from the sudden movement.

“D-Damn…” Larry whispered, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.

Sally chuckled, lifting his head slightly from Larry’s shoulder. “Y-Yeah…”

Larry wrapped his arms tightly around Sally, closing his eyes slowly. “That was…”

“Amazing?” Sally finished his sentence for him.

“To put it simply, yeah…”

Sally smiled, placing a soft kiss on Larry’s lips for a moment. Larry smiled up into the kiss, feeling enveloped in softness and love from Sally. Sally returned his head to Larry’s shoulder and the two stayed like this for a while, tangled in each other and their afterglow.

“Lar?” Sally spoke up finally, nuzzling his face slightly against Larry’s neck.

“Yeah, dude?” Larry caught himself dozing off for a moment.

“We… Kind of made a mess.”

Larry was quiet for a moment, feeling the sticky mess on his abdomen that he’d blocked out for a while. “Guess you’re right.”

Sally laughed, pulling himself up and off of Larry. He stood from the mattress, naked except for the oversized flannel. His blue hair covered part of his face, his single blue eye filled with kindness and warmth.

“I’m gonna go take a shower.” Sally stated.

“Sounds good.” Larry sat up on his elbows slightly, drinking in the beautiful view in front of him.

Sally reached out his hand at that moment, smiling sweetly at Larry. “You coming or what?”  
“M-Me?” Larry raised his eyebrows, falling back slightly as he pointed to himself.

“Who else would I be talking to, dork?” Sally tilted his head to the side, a smirk on his lips. Larry was silent for a moment, Sally gesturing for Larry to get up and join him.

“C’mon, Larry face.”

Larry jumped up from the mattress, scrambling to his feet. “Coming, Sally Face.”

Sally took his hand, leading him to the bathroom. “You already did, Larry.”

Larry’s face flushed. “S-Shut it.”

“Make me.”

“Maybe I will.”

 

 


	9. Mental Health Obligations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally & Larry learn about each other's mental health.

 

It had been a few weeks since the lovebird’s first date, and they’d gone out at least 3 more times since. Sally had been avidly staying over at Larry’s, and had the fresh hickeys to prove it. Sally now had hoodies and boxers and other items of clothing left at Larry’s apartment, including his own toothbrush. 

 

“You have a  _ toothbrush  _ at his place?!” Ashley placed a croissant onto a plate, handing it to a customer. 

 

“Yeah? What of it?” Sally looked up a small box. He was currently digging through a box of chalk markers to update the ‘Daily Special’ board. 

 

“Nothing, it just means you guys are getting pretty serious pretty fast.” Ashley raised an eyebrow at Sally, turning towards him with her hands on her hips. 

 

“Your point?” Sally grinned slightly beneath his mask. 

 

“Oh, nothing. Just that little Sally Face is obviously love struck!” Ashley sang playfully, walking up to Sally and poking the nose of his mask. 

 

“Hey!” Sally swatted her hand away and laughed. “Quit it. We’re just… Having a really good time together, alright?” Sally’s cheeks grew a soft crimson under his mask. 

 

“I’d say so alright.” Ashley took that opportunity to poke at one of the exposed hickeys on Sally’s neck. 

 

Sally sharply inhaled through gritted teeth, slapping his hand over the hickey. He’d been wearing his hair down specifically to cover as much as he could, but Larry loved giving him those sweet little love bites, and fuck, did he love getting them. 

 

“All I’m saying,  _ Saaaalllly Faaaace _ ,” Ashley said in a sing-song voice, “Is that you’re really into him! And it makes me super happy! You guys have been out like… what, once this week already? And it’s only Tuesday!” 

 

“What day is it again?” Sally inquired, pulling the cap off a chalk marker. 

 

“April 26th, why?” 

 

“Just curious. But besides, why wouldn’t I be super into him? He’s my boyfriend, Ash.” Sally climbed up onto the counter, beginning to carefully write out the special of the day. 

 

Ashley stopped, looked up wide eyed at Sally, then squealed. Loudly. 

 

“Jesus-- Ashley!” Todd looked up from the work he’d been doing in the corner of the cafe on his laptop. 

 

“Fuck, Ash!” Sally dropped the marker, tensing up for a second. “Fucking, give me the marker.” 

 

Ashley picked up the marker, handing it to Sally as she bounced slightly on her heels. “I’m sorry! I’ve just never heard you call him your boyfriend! It’s so sweet!” 

 

“It’s no reason to almost blow out my eardrums.” Todd stuck a pinky finger in his ear, as if to ‘fix’ his eardrum. 

 

“Sorry.” Ashley laughed awkwardly. 

 

Sally continued writing, and rolled his eyes slightly. “What’s the special again?” 

 

“The London Fog Latte, remember?” Ashley looked up at him. 

 

“Yep. I forgot.” 

 

“Busy thinking about your boyfriend?”

 

“Can it, Ash.” 

 

“Make me!” Ashley stuck her tongue out at Sally. 

 

Sally tensed for a moment, those words suddenly making his skin feel hot. His attention focused to memories of Larry’s teeth in the soft skin of his pale neck. 

 

_ ‘I’ll fucking make you.’ Larry would growl.  _

_ ‘Fucking make me, then.’ Sally would moan back, earning a hard bite from Larry.  _

_ ‘Smartass.’ Larry would find a piece of skin without a mark or a bruise, and turn it those pretty purple reds.  _

_ Larry loved painting sunsets of purples and blues and reds with his mouth on Sally’s soft pale skin. And Sally loved being the canvas that lay beneath him.  _

 

“--y? Sally? You good, Sally?” 

 

“Huh?” Sally looked at Ashley, his heart suddenly beating a little faster. 

“Are you okay? You zoned out hard.” 

 

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Sally shook it off, then continued to write. 

  
  


\-- 

 

“All I’m saying, is that if you microwave it instead of toast it, it’s going to be disgusting.” Ashley stuck her tongue out at the end of her sentence in disgust. 

 

“I just don’t understand what kind of psychopath  _ microwaves waffles. _ ” Todd’s face was a mixture of confusion and pure disgust. 

 

“It’s really not that bad.” 

 

“It’s bad.” Todd and Ashley said in unison. 

 

“Fine. Call me a psychopath, then.” Sally crossed his arms over his chest. 

 

“Look out Todd, next thing you know, Sally’s going to be massacring people.” Ashley smirked. 

 

The door chimed open. 

 

“For someone who microwaves waffles, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Todd shook his head with a chuckle, returning to his table.

 

“Are you guys talking about Sally’s weird microwave waffle thing?” Larry had entered the cafe, his art bag on his shoulder and hair up in a messy bun. He had a smear of pink paint on his cheek, still slightly wet. 

 

“Yes!” Todd and Ashley yelled in unison, again. They looked at each other for a moment, then both shook their heads. 

 

“We really have to stop doing that.” Ashley laughed towards Todd.

 

“It’s not weird!” Sally threw his arms up in defeat. 

 

“It really is, babe.” Larry walked over to the counter, and brushed a strand of Sally’s hair behind his ear. Quickly, Sally untucked the hair from his ear. 

 

“It’s not, but okay. How are you feeling?” Sally asked, smiling at Larry. 

 

“I don’t know! I haven’t slept since last night.” Larry awkwardly scratched the back of his head. 

“How come?” Sally tilted his head to the side. 

 

“You weren’t there.” Larry shrugged. 

 

“Awwh!” Ashley exclaimed. 

 

“Ash, can it.” Sally groaned. “The usual, Lar?” 

 

Larry just laughed, leaning over the counter slightly and bringing his face closer to Sally’s. “You know me.” 

 

“Coming right up.” Sally smiled up at Larry. Quickly, Larry pressed his lips to the lips on Sally’s mask, Sally instinctively going to peck him back under the mask. This was a routine that they’d created, since Larry loved kissing Sally so much, yet it was a lot of work to get to his lips. This little technique would usually satisfy them for the time being until they could be alone together. 

 

\-- 

 

Larry had been sipping at his coffee, quietly sketching in his sketchbook. The afternoon sun was beginning to rise high into the sky, golden colors coming in through the front windows. 

He ran the graphite along the paper of his sketchbook, currently working on a sketch of a few succulents that his mom had kept in the kitchen back at his childhood home. He figured he’d want to mail this drawing to her, since he was having a hard time showing her his art with being so far away. 

The music on the radio was currently on a regular acoustic station, since there had been a steady flow of customers in and out of the cafe during the day. He looked over at Sally, who was currently making a drink for a waiting customer. 

The bell on the front door chimed, and he tapped his foot quietly to the beat of the acoustic song, but stopped as soon as he heard a chair from the other end of the coffee shop-- where Todd was sitting-- scoot out violently and abruptly. 

He saw Todd suddenly standing, a look of slight panic on his face. He was about to speak up and ask what was wrong, until he heard Ash speak. 

 

“Ma’am, you can’t bring your dog in the cafe.” Ashley’s voice was suddenly firm. 

 

“I don’t want to tie him up outside!” A tall, blonde woman was currently holding a leash to a large German Shepherd. The dog mirrored her— tall, broad, and standing its ground. 

 

“Ma’am, I’m not going to ask you again. Take the dog outside.” Ashley’s hands suddenly balled into fists, her eyebrows drawing together in slight anger. Larry was witnessing Ashley begin to state her dominance against this woman, but he couldn’t tell why. It wasn’t until Todd spoke up, did he realize why Ashley was acting this way. She was being protective. 

 

“Sal..” Todd spoke softly, looking over at Sally. 

 

Sally was currently standing at the counter, frozen. He was clutching a milk pitcher in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. He was unmoving, completely stiff as his hands were white knuckled on the drink ingredients. His breathing was loud, as if he was beginning to hyperventilate. 

 

“It’ll just be a second! All I want is a coffee!” The woman whined, obviously annoyed. 

 

“Ma’am, LEAVE.” Ashley finally had enough, slamming her hand down flat on the counter and pointing to the door. 

 

“I’m not fucking leaving!” The woman yelled back. 

 

With the tension of the room and the sudden yelling, the German Shepherd suddenly let out a loud, booming bark. It lifted its front paws off the floor, jumping up slightly and barking once more. A growl vibrated from behind its bark, the volume taking over the small coffee shop. 

 

The sound of the bark was followed with the sound of metal clattering to the ground, liquid splashing, and a hard thud. Everything in Sally’s hold fell to the ground, hot coffee falling onto his pants and shoes. His sneakers squeaked loudly against the floor, his body slamming into the ground and his entire mass meeting the linoleum with one hard THUD. 

His sneakers scuffed and squeaked rapidly against the floor as he scrambled up, his hands knocking over various items as he reached blindly for a moment for the nearest shelf to pull himself up with. Sally quickly bolted into the back kitchen, pushed the door open hard, and ran out into the back alley. 

 

“Sally!” Yelled Larry. He dropped his pencil, knocking over his coffee onto his sketchbook as he jumped up from his table. He ran behind the counter and through the back kitchen, chasing after Sally. 

 

He found Sally, pacing quickly around in the back alley. He was sobbing hard under his mask, breathing rapidly and clawing at the buckles on his mask. 

 

“I-- Ca-- Bre-- Br-- Breath--” Sally was gasping out, his words hardly legible through his sobs. He let out a gut wrenching cry, Larry’s stomach dropping at the painful sounds Sally was emitting. 

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, It’s okay,” Larry reassured to Sally, panic in his voice. He quickly undid the bottom buckle on Sally’s mask, Sally grabbing the chin of it and pushing the mask to the top of his head. Sally inhaled roughly, crying out on his exhale. 

Tears were pouring down his face, snot coming from his nose and drool coming from his mouth. He couldn’t control his breathing, his crying, his anything. He doubled over, breathing easier without his mask, but feeling raw and exposed. He took fistfuls of his blue hair in his hands, beginning to unsuccessfully attempt to breath through his nose rather than his mouth. 

 

Larry watched, tears forming in his own eyes. He’d never seen Sally so broken, so in pain. Sally had mentioned that he’d suffered trauma, but he never knew details. He never knew what happened, and Larry never found it his place to ask. He figured Sally would tell him when he was ready, and he was alright with that. But he was beginning to put the puzzle pieces of Sally’s past together as he watched Sally sob out and shake in the back alley behind the coffee shop. 

 

Larry couldn’t piece together what Sally what saying. After he’d been choking out about how he couldn’t breathe, Larry wasn’t able to understand anything past that. But there was one barely legible word that made its way out of Sally’s throat that he sobbed, causing a painful blow to Larry’s heart. 

 

_ ‘Mom’ _

 

That was the only word that Sally yelled that Larry could understand. 

 

Sally stood upright, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head. Larry carefully approached Sally, his hand outstretched. 

 

“Sally, you’re alright.” He said as calmly as he could. Before he could say anything else, Sally threw himself against Larry, pressing his face firmly against Larry’s chest. He wrapped his arms around him, Sally’s hands gripping tightly onto the fabric of Larry’s t-shirt. 

 

Larry was taken aback for a moment, before cautiously wrapping his arms around Sally and holding him tightly. He closed his eyes for a moment, sighing hard. 

 

“You’re alright, Sally. You’re okay. You’re safe.” He kept repeating these words for some time until Sally grew quiet, his crying continuing, but his sobbing ceasing. 

 

He’d looked up and seen Ash standing in the doorway of the back entrance, a hand covering her mouth as tears fells softly down her cheeks. 

 

Larry had a feeling this wasn’t the first time this kind of thing had happened with Sally, and he had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last time. But he knew that no matter what, he would do everything he could to be there for him. 

 

\--

 

It had gotten to the point where it had been close to 30 minutes that Sally was standing and clutching Larry. With the help of Ashley and Todd, they decided it would be best if Larry took Sally up to the apartment and laid him down, letting him recompose himself in a quiet space. 

Todd had grabbed all of Larry’s stuff he’d left down in the coffee shop, also grabbing Sally’s hoodie and phone from his locker. He followed Larry up to the apartment, Larry carrying Sally the entire way. 

 

Larry laid Sally down onto the mattress, pulling the blanket up onto him and giving him a soft kiss on the forehead. Sally’s eyes were slightly open from what Larry could tell, but he wasn’t responsive. This struck a chord in Larry, a violent storm of anxiety brewing inside him. Todd placed everything on the kitchen counter and exited out onto the steps at the front door, Larry following him. 

 

“Has… This happened before?” Larry asked, closing the front door behind him as they stood outside. 

 

“I’ve only seen it once, when we were in high school. He is usually okay when he sees a dog, but… It’s the bark that triggers his PTSD around the situation.” Todd seemed slightly shaken. “Ash has seen him have these kinds of attacks more than I have.” 

 

“Sally never told me he has PTSD.” Larry stared at Todd, suddenly beginning to feel worn out. 

 

“There’s a lot about himself he’s never told you, I suppose. Like I said, he’s a very pr--” 

 

Larry cut him off. “He’s a private person, I know. But don’t you think I should know this as his… y’know…” 

 

“Boyfriend? Yes. But regardless, he is not obligated to tell you. I’m sure after today, though, he may at least open up about some things. Listen, Larry, give me a phone call if you or Sally needs anything. I’ll be downstairs with Ashley while she closes the shop.” Todd placed a hand on Larry’s shoulder in an awkward attempt at ‘comforting’. It was awkward, to say the least. 

 

“Thanks, Todd.” 

 

“Anytime, Larry. Keep us updated, please.” Todd began to walk down the steps. 

 

\-- 

 

Larry was sitting on the floor near his canvases, attempting to lay the coffee-stained sketch book out in an attempt to salvage any drawings, knowing very well he’d have to buy a new one very soon. It had been about an hour and a half since he’d laid Sally down, and he had just heard the sound of movement in the room. He looked up, seeing a maskless Sally sit up quietly, staring in front of him with half-lidded eyes. 

 

“Morning, starshine.” Larry said in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

 

Sally was quiet for a moment, looking around a bit. 

 

“Where’s my mask…?” Sally’s voice was rough and slightly hoarse. 

 

“On the floor next to you.” Larry grunted slightly at the end of his words, hopping up onto his feet and heading into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet, filling it with water and bringing it over to Sally. He handed it to him, sitting down on the mattress facing him. 

 

Sally took the water, looking down into the glass. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Sally whispered, taking a sip of the water. 

 

“Sal.” Larry placed a hand on Sally’s knee. “Don’t apologize. It’s fine.” 

 

“I didn’t want you to see me like that. You never should’ve--” 

 

“Sally. It’s alright.” 

 

Sally stayed quiet for a bit, sipping the water. “My head is killing me…” He finally said. 

 

“Do you want some tylenol?” Larry asked, standing up. 

 

“Look at you, an adult who owns painkillers now.” Sally teased weakly, standing up. “I can grab it.” 

 

“I-- Alright. They’re in the bathroom above the sink.” Larry sat back down, watching Sally. 

 

Sally walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He looked at himself in the mirror, and didn’t know the person staring back at him. The person who stared back was a mess, he thought. A mess of a human. He opened the medicine cabinet, his fingers grazing bottles slightly as he looked for the tylenol in his hazy state. 

 

His fingers brushed against an orange bottle, pills rattling as the bottle fell down into the sink. He pulled the bottle out of the sink, looking down at the label. 

 

**‘LARRY JOHNSON - LORAZEPAM (ATIVAN) - TAKE 1 TABLET BY MOUTH 1 TO 2 TIMES DAILY OR AS NEEDED’**

 

Sally stared at the label, then looked back up at the medicine cabinet. 

 

More orange bottles with white caps stood unorganized in the medicine cabinet. Curiosity controlled his muggy brain, causing him to continue pulling the bottles down and read the labels. 

 

**‘LARRY JOHNSON - CLONAZEPAM (KLONOPIN) - TAKE 1 TABLET BY MOUTH ONCE DAILY OR AS NEEDED’**

 

**‘LARRY JOHNSON - DIAZEPAM (VALIUM) -’**

 

**‘LARRY JOHNSON - CHLORDIAZEPOXIDE (LIBRIUM)-’**

 

**‘LARRY JOHNSON - SERTRALINE (ZOLOFT)-’**

 

**‘LARRY JOHNSON - FLUOXETINE (PROZAC, SARAFEM)-’**   
  


Sally had been through enough medical related bullshit in his life to know that every single one of these bottles contained either a sedative, anti-anxiety medication or an antidepressant. He never once had figured that so many orange bottles with little white pills would belong to such a sweet, goofy smile. He never once assumed, that maybe, just maybe Larry was fucked up too. 

 

“That’s not Tylenol. Tylenol is on the top shelf. But, I don’t blame you, you probably can’t reach it.” 

 

Sally whipped around, staring wide-eyed at Larry as he held a prescription bottle in his hand. He must’ve been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn’t hear Larry come in. He parted his lips to speak, but Larry spoke first.  

 

“That’s probably Prozac or something in your hand, right?” Larry was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. 

 

Sally was silent. He looked down at the bottle, then back up at Larry. Larry stepped over, taking the bottle out of his hand. 

 

“Y’know. Prozac tastes really bad. But it doesn’t taste as bad as some other shit. I couldn’t swallow pills until I was like 20. Before that, my mom would crush them up and put them in food for me and it always made the food taste like shit.” Larry rolled the bottle around in his hand. “That’s why I hate strawberry yogurt. Can’t eat it anymore because all I taste is Prozac now when I eat it.” 

 

“Larry I--”

 

“It’s fine, Sal. I knew you’d find out one way or another.” Larry placed the bottle back in the cabinet, then grabbed the tylenol down for him. He handed the bottle to him, leaning against the wall. 

Larry exited the bathroom, walking into the main room and laying down on the mattress. 

 

Sally popped the cap off the tylenol and took two pills, dry swallowing the pills before capping the bottle and putting it back. He returned to the room, eyeing Larry and approaching the bed. Larry looked up at him, Larry chuckling softly. 

 

“I’m not mad, Sal.” Larry smiled gently. “C’mere.” He patted his chest. 

 

Sally laid down, placing his head gently on Larry’s chest. 

 

“Why do you have so many different kinds?” Sally asked quietly. 

 

“I guess… Like. I never wanted to be on meds in the first place. Doctors kept throwing them at me though. I’d be on one for maybe 1, 2 weeks max, hate the way it made me feel, and then it was onto the next one. I could never stick with one.” Larry explained, aimlessly placing his hand on Sally’s head and tangling his fingers in his hair. 

 

“So you just kept them all?” 

 

“I guess. I rarely take them. When I do it’s either a half or a quarter.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Sally apologized. 

 

“Why are you apologizing?” Larry looked at him. 

 

“I… Feel like I invaded your privacy, or something.” 

 

Larry snorted. “Dude! No. You knew I had anxiety already, didn’t you?” 

 

“Yes, but… I didn’t know it was--” 

 

“Super fucking bad anxiety that can cause me to have self-destructive meltdowns and tendencies?” 

 

“...Yeah.” 

 

Larry laughed slightly. “You were going to find out eventually. You’re my boyfriend…” He grabbed Sally’s hand, rubbing his thumb on the back of Sally’s hand. He recalled Todd’s words for a moment, exhaling out his nose. “I was never obligated to tell you, but, I knew I would, because I trust you. Because I L-- like you, a lot.” 

 

Sally thought for a while, very quiet, his mind going over every single response he could think of— witty, sarcastic, sweet, sad… But ultimately, he just said the first thing that felt right. The first, and only thing he could really muster at the moment. 

 

“Thank you for telling me. I promise I’m always going to help you, okay?” 

 

Larry smiled. He lifted his head slightly, kissing the top of Sally’s head. “Thanks, Sal.” 

 

Time passed, Sally letting his eyes close and his mind drift as he let the tylenol take its effect. He sat quietly, dozing off to the feeling of Larry brushing his fingers through his hair continuously. The sun had begun to set, and the world was quiet. But in Sally’s heart, there was one thing he was paying attention to. Like a broken record that couldn’t be fixed, Larry’s words continued in his mind: _ “I was never obligated to tell you, but, I knew I would, because I trust you.” _

 

Sally slowly sat up, Larry sniffing as he startled out of his half-asleep daze. He sat up, looking at Sally. 

 

“You alright? Bad dream?” Larry rubbed his eyes. 

 

“I trust you, too.” Sally’s voice was soft as he stared at the blanket, taking a bit in between his hands and worrying it with his fingers. 

 

“I’m glad, dude.” Larry brought a hand up to Sally’s back, rubbing it softly. 

 

“I was. Really little. Like, five years old little, I guess. My mom always said I was the cutest thing in her world, and it always made me so happy.” Sally began, chuckling saly at the mention of his mom. “We were out in this meadow, my dad had gotten off of work early so he could join us for lunch. I loved picnics according to my dad, and… He…” Sally inhaled hard, feeling a hardness grow in his throat. “He told me I would ask my mom for a picnic every chance I got. I used to do them with her on the livingroom floor, but this time, she took me to the meadow.” 

 

Larry’s hand continued the soft rubbing motion, listening intently to Sally’s words. 

 

“My mom, her name is-- was Diane. If you wanted to know, her name was Diane.” A stray tear escaped Sally’s eye. “There was a d-dog,” Sally’s voice began to break. “I loved dogs, almost as much as I loved my mom. I begged her, I b-begged her to come with me, so I could pet it. My mom, she loved animals too. She told me, I re-remember, her saying, ‘S-Sally sweetie, give me a minute. W-We can go p-pet the d..og’.” Sally’s voice broke completely, his voice shaking, and his tears falling down his face now. 

“I f-fucking, was an idiot. And I didn’t fucking m-mean— m-my mom, she--” He inhaled sharply, placing a hand on his chest and attempting to catch his breath. 

 

“It’s okay, Sally.” Larry whispered. 

 

Sally gathered himself. “When my dad found us, he said m-my mom… tried to get the dog off of me. It had gotten to my f-face and my mom stopped it before it… but, she… It…” 

 

“Sally, it’s okay.” Larry repeated, wrapping his arms slowly around Sally. “Shh.. You’re alright…”

 

Sally turned around in Larry’s hold, pressing his face against his chest. The pair laid down slowly, Larry holding Sally tightly as he cried. Sally cried quietly for a while, embarrassed that he was so vulnerable and weak at this moment. But what mattered to Larry, was that Sally knew he was safe, and no matter the traumas or the pain he was feeling, that he was going to be alright. 

  
  


No matter what, Larry was going to make sure Sally would be alright. 


	10. McDonalds & Road Trips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's summer! The group celebrates the beginning of the new season by taking a road trip to a lake where they'll be camping for the next few days.

 

“Could she be taking any longer?” Todd looked at the watch on his wrist, irritated and leaning against the side of the van.

 

“Hey! Give the woman her time, Todd. You got up at 3 to finish packing.” Neil flashed a toothy grin at Todd, raising an eyebrow.

 

“That’s because I didn’t want to make everyone wait, unlike Ashley.” Todd squinted at Neil, but couldn’t help but smirk slightly towards him.

 

Neil wrapped a warm arm around Todd’s shoulders, Todd’s frustration beginning to melt away at the warmth of his boyfriend.

 

Currently, Sally was sitting on the hood of the van, cigarette resting between his nimble fingers. Larry was facing him, his hands carefully resting on Sally’s hips. Sally’s mask was pushed up just slightly, his skin exposed to the early morning June air. It had been about 3 months since the pair had started dating, and they’d grown closer than ever at this point.

 

The time was currently 5:45 AM on June 2nd, 2005. It was 45 minutes past when Todd had planned for them to leave on their next adventure. The sun was barely awake in the sky, the clouds painting a soft orange and purple, dark blue colors left over from the previous night sky. With the moon still peeking out in the sky, the morning was comfortable and calm.

 

A few weeks ago, Neil had made a passing comment about how Todd refused to connect with nature, and told stories of a lake he’d gone camping at as a child. Neil explained the beauty of the lake, and how much he wanted to visit it again. This intrigued the rest of the group, and with Todd outvoted, the group decided to take a long weekend trip to Lake Chelan in Washington, a 6 to 7 hour drive away from Portland.  

 

“Did you brush your teeth this morning?” Sally mumbled against Larry’s lips as they kissed softly.

 

“Mm, don’t ‘member.” Larry barely mumbled back, sleepy and slightly out of it. “Just kiss me.”

 

Sally laughed, Kissing Larry hard and placing a hand on the back of Larry’s head. The pair were both incredibly sleep deprived and slightly delirious, having barely slept the night before and running on about an hours worth of sleep. Of course, they’d stayed up messing around with each other, Larry sporting fresh hickeys all over his neck and collar bone to prove it.

The rest of the group had grown accustomed to these two and their endless amounts of love for each other. While it was disgustingly cute, and so sweet it could rot teeth, it was a pure, gentle kind of love.

 

Larry startled slightly out of the kiss, the sound of a door slamming waking up his asleep brain. He looked over, seeing Ashley, carrying two backpacks and a pillow as she ran down her front steps.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I overslept!” Ashley apologized, approaching the group.

 

“It’s about ti—” Todd began.

 

Neil interrupted him, clapping a gentle hand around Todd’s mouth. “It’s fine, Ash. Lemme grab your bags.”

 

Todd furrowed his eyebrows at Neil, Neil looking at him and winking as he released Todd from his hold. Neil grabbed one of Ashley’s bags, approaching the back of the van and opening it. As the pair loaded up the last bit of things, Sally hopped off the hood and pulled his mask back down. Larry followed Sally as he threw the side door open, hopping in and taking his place in the middle back seat.

 

Larry sat next to Sally, Ashley climbing in and taking her spot on the other side of Sally. Neil took his spot at the passenger spot, and Todd finally getting in the driver's seat.

 

“Is everyone situated?” Todd asked, starting the Van.

 

“Yep.” Neil replied, pulling a map out of the glove compartment.

 

“Good. We are supposed to meet with Chug and Maple at the gas station on North East Broadway—”

 

“Can we get snacks?” Sally interrupted.

 

“...Yes, Sally.” Todd replied.

 

“Fuck yes.” Sally grinned.

 

“Oh! Maybe we could stop at McDonalds for breakfast? We haven’t eaten.” Larry proposed.

 

“Ugh, McDonalds sounds so good right now.” Ashley added.

 

“...Fine.” Todd was feeling as though this was going to be a very long drive.

 

\--

 

“Maybe we should consider getting some fruit?” Ashley asked, looking down at the small hand basket that Sally had hanging off his arm. Sally was currently placing a pack of Oreo cookies into the hand basket without a second thought.

 

“What do you mean?” Sally looked up at Ash, cocking his head to the side. While Ashley couldn’t see it, she could tell that sleep-deprived Sally was sporting a cocky grin.

 

Currently, the snack assortment was any nutritionist’s nightmare. A few bottles of Mountain Dew, along with Goldfish crackers, Twizzlers, Twix bars, Cheetos (regular and hot), Sun Chips, a few bottles of Snapple, Trail Mix, Doritos, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Of course this was just Larry and Sally’s doing, considering that Neil was purchasing slightly healthier items for himself and Todd.

Ashley rolled her eyes at the pair, leaving and grabbing some apples and bananas as well as a few bottles of water.

 

Larry stood in aisle of the LED-lit convenience store, looking at a pack of sour candies. His eyes heavy with the need for sleep, his hair pulled up into a messy attempt at a bun. A few stray strands hung in his face, a yawn escaping him for a moment.   
He heard the shopping basket be placed on the floor. A pair of arms snaked their way around his waist, and he felt the hard material of Sally’s mask press against his back.

 

“What’s up, Sally Face?” Larry turned around in Sally’s hold, smiling down at him.

 

“I’m just hungry, I guess.” Sally replied, his voice sleepy.

 

“Me too, dude.” Larry leaned down, kissing Sally on the top of the head.

 

After a few more minutes in the convenience store, the group all purchasing their chosen items, they made their way out into the parking lot. Sally approached the van, swinging the back door open and placing his items on the floor inside. He closed the van, the morning beginning to heat up.

 

“Time check?” Neil asked.

 

“Approximately 6:14 AM.” Todd replied, looking at his watch. Todd was about to make some comment about Chug and Maple being late, but before he could, the sound of car doors opening and closing were heard across the parking lot.

 

“Morning!” Called Chug from across the parking lot, waving.

 

“Good morning!” Ashley waved back.

 

“Jesus, how are you all so energetic?” Larry asked, yawning hard.

 

“How are you not?! This is so exciting!” Ashley jumped up for a moment, throwing her arms around Larry’s shoulders.

 

Larry chuckled, shaking his head. “This is gonna be pretty fun…” At that moment, he felt his stomach rumble with hunger. “But first--”

 

“Food, I’m aware. Just get in the Van.” Todd was already climbing into the driver's seat as Neil had gone over to Chug, explaining how they were stopping for breakfast first.

 

\--

 

“Let’s hurry up and order, alright? I do not want to waste much more time than we already have.” Todd pulled up the the McDonald’s Drive Thru, rolling his window down. “What do you want?” turned to Neil, cocking an eyebrow.

 

“Get me a egg muffin and a coffee.” Neil kept his order sweet and simple.

 

“Good Morning, welcome to McDonald’s. What can I get for you today?” The voice crackled over the speaker, apathetic and tired.

 

“Two egg muffins and two coffees to start,” Todd began, turning around a bit and looking at the group of dorks in the back seat. “What do you three want?”

 

“Hold on, hold--” Sally was giggling slightly, his lack of sleep turning off any filter he previously had. Undoing his seatbelt, he leaned over Larry’s lap, rolling down the window and sticking his head and torso out.

 

Larry started laughing, bringing his hand up and covering his mouth to stifle his laugh slightly. “What are you doing?!” He snorted, placing his free hand on Sally’s back and gripping the fabric of his shirt to make sure he didn’t fall out of the window.

 

“Shhh! Let it happen! Can I uh— can I get some chicken nuggets?” Sally asked loudly.

 

The speaker was quiet for a moment before crackling to life again. “I’m sorry sir, we’re only serving breakfast right now.”

 

“Oh, that’s fine uhm.” Sally squinted, studying the menu for a moment. “Give me that uhh… McGriddle and a hashbrown. What do you want?” He asked Larry.

 

“Same as you.” Larry answered.

 

“Make that two of them.”

 

“...Anything else?” The voice over the speaker replied. Whoever this person was, they seemed exhausted.

 

“Ash! What do you want?!” Sally yelled to Ash, even though she was less that 6 feet away from him.

 

“McMuffin!” Ash cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling back. Neil was currently chuckling at this entire exchange.

 

“McMuffin!” Sally repeated Ash.

 

“Sally get back in the car.” Todd rubbed his temples, sighing hard.

 

Larry yanked on Sally’s shirt, pulling him back into the car. Sally just laughed, wrapping his arms around Larry.

 

They’d been waiting in the Drive Thru for about 5 minutes now, the car in front of them having a particularly large order. Sally had been resting his head on Larry’s shoulder, Neil flipping through the CD binder he’d brought, full of different music for the trip.

They’d sorted out cash, a pile of different dollar bills resting on Todd’s thigh as he finally pulled up to the window to pay.

 

The window slid open. “That’ll be 23.86 today,” The cashier began, looking over at Todd.

 

Todd took the bills in his hand, going and handing it to the cashier. That’s when Todd’s eyes went slightly wide, raising his eyebrows a bit.

 

“Travis?”

 

The cashier looked at Todd, his eyes going wide. The cashier happened to be none other than Travis Phelps, previous high school bully and current asshole who harassed the friend group-- specifically Sally and Ash while they were working.  

 

Sally immediately lifted his head from Larry’s shoulder, looking at the window. He stared directly at Travis, who was staring back at Todd.

 

Travis snatched the money from Todd’s hand, his hand tightly grasping the bills. His expression was bitter and embarrassed, his face growing flushed.

 

“Didn’t know you worked here, Traaaavis.” Sally deadpanned, saying Travis’s name in a sing-song voice.

“I… Got fired from Chick-Fil-A. I’m here now.” Travis purposely avoided eye contact with Sally. At the moment, he was surprisingly not being as much of a bully as he usually was.

 

Sally just looked at Travis. He didn’t have much of a response, but they were currently stuck at the Cashier window, considering there was a car in front of them. Travis gave Todd his change back, then looked away.

 

It was quiet.

 

Painfully quiet.

 

Larry felt an awkward tension, wrapping an arm around Sally’s waist and pulling him a bit close. He’d only heard stories of Travis, and never had the actual ‘pleasure’ of meeting him. The group talked about him often, but he’d apparently stopped coming to the coffee shop as often since Larry had been hanging around.

 

Sally invited Larry’s intimate touch, placing his head Larry’s shoulder once again. He smiled under his mask, Larry placing a gentle kiss on the top of Sally’s head. At that moment, Travis had looked over, seeing the pair wrapped in each other’s tired embrace. Travis’s eyes went wide for a moment, his body tensing up.

 

Travis just stared, Sally looking over and making eye contact with him.

 

“What?” Sally asked.

 

“...Nothing. Good to see you, Sally.” And with that, Travis shut the window, walking away from the register and disappearing out of view.

 

\--

 

The group had gotten their food and parked for a moment so Todd could eat before starting the drive. Neil was currently outside, standing by Chug and Maple’s car, pointing to different spots on the map and explaining the drive to them.

 

Ash took a bite of her food, finally breaking an awkward silence that had been hanging over the entire van. “‘Good to see you’? What the hell does that mean?”  

 

“I know!” Sally exclaimed, seemed as though he’d been holding in his outburst.

 

“That was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen Travis do, and I’ve seen him willingly eat our high school lunches.” Todd added, taking a sip of his coffee.

 

“Ew, dude, I’m eating.” Sally held back a gag at the mention of their high school lunches.

 

“My apologies. But I do have to admit, that was very out of character for Travis.” Todd set his coffee down in the cupholder, crumpling up the empty food wrappers he had on his lap.

 

“You’re telling me.” Ash replied.

 

“Can we just drop this?” Sally asked before the conversation could go any further.

 

\--

**3 HOURS INTO THE TRIP - 4 HOURS LEFT**

 

Currently, both Sally and Ashley were passed out. Sally had been using Larry’s lap as a pillow, wrapped up in his flannel with Larry’s hoodie being used as a blanket. Ashley had her pillow pressed up against the window, somehow staying perfectly asleep every time they hit any bump of sorts.

Larry had been staring out the window, looking at the amazingly tall trees, the beautiful mountains, and the amazing nature scenery that enveloped the windy road. His eyes were heavy, and he’d just woken up from dozing off for the past few hours. Once they’d left the McDonald’s, he was out like a light. But now awake, he had his earbuds in and was listening to an acoustic album from a favorite metal band.

Todd and Neil had a Maroon 5 CD on currently, the volume soft as to not disturb Ash or Sal. They’d been quietly chatting back and forth, but it was nothing Larry found himself able to jump in on.

Larry currently had his fingers laced in Sally’s hair, an odd thing he found comfort in. Sally had admitted it helped him sleep, so it was a win-win for both boys. A song started playing on Larry’s iPod that reminded him of the last mental break he’d had way back in April. He shivered a bit at the thought, immediately grabbing his iPod and going to change the song. As he loosely held the iPod with his free hand, he changed the song. But as he did so, he accidentally dropped the iPod— directly onto Sally’s head.

 

“Shit!” Larry sharply inhaled.

 

Sally jolted awake, kicking Ashley in the process. “What the fuck,” Sally inhaled, his words messy and slurred together.

 

“Hey!” Ashley exclaimed, waking up quickly, dropping her pillow and banging her head on the window in the process. “Ow!” She yelped.

 

“I’m sorry— Shit! I’m sorry!” Larry frantically apologized.

 

Neil turned around in his seat to see an embarrassed Larry, a confused Sally and an annoyed Ashley.

“What in the world is going on with you three back there?” Neil looked at them, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Do I need to pull over?” Todd asked.

 

“Mm.. Yeah.” Sally groaned, rubbing his head slightly. “Gotta piss.”

 

“I’m so sorry.” Larry’s hands were clasped over his mouth as he looked at Sally and Ashley.

 

“Did you drop… your phone on my head?” Sally asked.

 

“It was my iPod.”

 

Sally chuckled. “Dork.”

 

\--

**5 HOURS INTO THE TRIP - 2 HOURS LEFT**

 

Sally was elbow deep in the bag of SunChips he’d bought earlier, which also apparently happened to be the loudest bag of chips to ever exist. Ash had begun to sport a small bruise on her head from when she slammed it into the window, creating more awkward guilt in Larry’s gut.

Currently, Larry sat, slouched in the backseat with his back already aching. Being 5 feet and 11 inches tall, he wasn’t the most comfortable, even with the decent amount of leg space. His legs were spread far apart, and he continually fidgeted in an attempt to stay comfortable. Sally, on the other hand, had his legs comfortably draped across Larry’s. He was able to find some comfort in the middle seat, at the expense of Larry and Ash’s personal space. But since Sally was only 5 feet and 1 inch tall, he fit comfortably in many different places.

 

At the moment, Larry and Sally were sharing a pair of earbuds, listening to music on Larry’s ipod. Sally currently had his free hand being held by Larry, the latter doodling on the back of Sally’s hand and on his wrist slightly. Different types of ink planets, stars and flowers littered Sally’s hand. A particular flower that Larry had drawn on Sally’s thumb made him smile for some odd reason.

 

Larry delicately held Sally’s hand, drawing a small star below Sally’s middle fingernail. He paused, running his thumb along a scar on his hand.

 

“I’ve never noticed this one.” Larry mumbled.

 

“What?” Sally took his earbud out.

 

“Oh— I just… I’ve held your hands a lot, and I’ve never noticed this scar.” Larry looked up at Sally, their eyes meeting.

 

Sally paused for a moment, trying to figure out from what point in his life that particular scar was from. “I can’t… Remember where I got that one. I think it’s from when I tried to cook once?”

 

“BLTs, like, 3 years ago. You wanted to make lunch for yourself when Todd and I weren’t home and you cut your finger, remember? We came home just in time to take you to get stitches.” Neil had heard bits and pieces of the conversation, looking over his shoulder at the adorable pair in the backseat.

 

Sally chuckled lightly. “Heh, oh yeah. I guess it all blurs together.” A hint of sadness trickled into Sally’s words.

 

Larry looked at Sally with a softness in his eyes, placing a free hand on the back of Sally’s head. Without words, he just kissed Sally’s forehead, his lips carefully resting against his mask for a moment.

 

“Larry? I...” Sally was quiet for moment, pausing.

 

“Mm?” Larry finished his soft kiss, pulling back and looking at Sally.

 

“Nothin’. I just really like you a lot is all.” Sally’s true words were caught in the back of his throat, shaking his head slightly as to shake off words he couldn’t quite say yet.  

 

“I’d hope so.” Larry smiled that goofy smile once more, the same exact one that made Sally fall for him in the first place.

 

\--

 

Time passed gradually, with games of iSpy, 20 Questions, and Would You Rather, as well as multiple different CDs listened to and pee breaks argued over, they finally made it about 20 minutes away from their destination. The time was about 3:45 PM, and Todd had pulled into the parking lot of a small strip mall that included a grocery store and few small fast food places to eat.

 

As Todd pulled into a parking space and parked the van, the van’s engine hot from the long time driving, Chug and Maple, along with Soda, pulled into the parking space next to them. The group all made their ways out of their respective vehicles, Maple going to the backseat of their small blue sedan to unbuckle Soda from her carseat.

 

Ashley and Larry both practically fell out of the car, exhausted from being so cramped in the back seat for so long. Sally hopped out of the car, a layer of sweat and drool having formed between his face and his mask, creating a semi-uncomfortable sensation for him. As Todd and Neil exited the van, Neil approached the cart-return in the parking lot and grabbed a shopping cart.

 

“Neil and I are going to get a head start on the grocery shopping,” Todd stretched, groaning a bit as he popped his back. “Are you all going to get food first or come shopping?”

 

“I’m starving.” Chug mentioned, rolling his shoulders back. “I think we’re going to grab some food first, then meet you in the store.”

 

“Do you want us to get you anything?” Maple asked Todd and Neil, holding Soda on her hip.

 

“We’re alright. Sorta filled up on snacks and such.” Neil smiled, going and wrapping his arms around Todd’s waist.

 

“I’ll come shopping, with you guys.” Ashley nodded.

 

“I’m pretty hungry.” Sally was continuously bothered by the sensation of sweat under his mask.  

 

“Me too.” Larry added, casually doing various leg stretches as he stood beside Sally.

 

“Alright. Just meet us in the store when you are all finished.” Todd leaned slightly into Neil’s hold, a soft smile on his face.

 

And with that, the group split off. Next to the grocery store there was a small sandwich shop, which Chug had chosen. As the group entered the sandwich shop, Sally and Larry stood in line behind Chug, Maple and Soda.

 

“I’ve gotta wash my hands.” Sally mumbled, making a beeline for the bathroom.

 

Larry nodded, mentally agreeing that washing his hands was gonna be a good idea before eating. He followed Sally to the bathroom, entering right after Sally had already entered. But as he made his way into the bathroom, Sally was pushing open each stall, as if to check no one was in the bathroom.

 

“Dude—?” Larry began, furrowing his brows slightly and cocking his head to the side.

 

Sally walked up to the bathroom door, locking it quickly. Larry didn’t have any words for him, but instead just watched as Sally quickly unclipped his mask. Sally set his mask to the side, quickly turning on the sink and beginning to splash cold water on his face. Larry noticed as Sally’s hair started getting wet as it fell down into the water, causing Larry to step over and gently pull back Sally’s soft blue hair.

Larry watched as the shorter man rubbed the cupped the water against his face. Larry brought a hand to Sally’s forehead, brushing his bangs back softly. Slowly, Sally turned the sink off. His eyes were closed as the water dripped down his face. Sally stood up straight, eyes still closed.

 

“Hey, hey. You’re alright, Sal.” Larry smiled gently, releasing his hand from Sally’s hair and grabbing a few paper towels. He turned Sally towards him, then gingerly began to dab the paper towels against Sally’s face. He made sure to gently wipe the water out of Sally’s eyes, his pretty blue eyes slowly opening and looking up at Larry. The white of one eye was a bloodshot red, the other an incredibly pristine ivory.

Sally was quiet as he looked up at Larry, standing there, vulnerable and exposed to him in some fast food restroom in the middle of Washington. Larry just smiled down at him, tilting Sally’s face up and kissing his lips softly.

Sally closed his eyes as he pressed into the kiss, his lips suddenly feeling lonely as Larry pulled away from the kiss.

 

“You alright?” Larry rubbed his hand along Sally’s upper arm, looking at him with kindness and concern.

 

“I’m okay… I just… Lots of sweat and drool from when I kept napping.” Sally exhaled, taking a few deep breaths. He turned towards his mask, grabbing it as he turned the sink back on. He began to run the mask under the water, attempting to clean it out.

Larry just rubbed his hands gently along Sally’s sides, placing his chin on top of Sally’s head. Sally just chuckled a bit.

 

“Fucking dork.” Sally smirked, looking at their reflections in the bathroom mirror.  

 

“Fucking nerd.” Larry replied, quickly kissing the top of Sally’s head.

 

\--

 

It had been about 30 minutes, and Neil, Todd and Ash had all gathered a multitude of items that they needed for the next few days. Todd glanced down at his watch, then looked around the aisle they were currently in.

 

“Where are they?” Todd asked.

 

At that moment, Larry and Sally emerged into the aisle the rest of the group was in. Sally was sitting in the basket, Larry pushing the cart.

 

“What’s happening, mother fuckers?!” Sally yelled, throwing a bag of marshmallows at Todd.

 

Neil caught the bag before it hit Todd, showing off an impressive amount of quick reflexes.

 

“It appears their pent up energy from the car ride is now catching up with them.” Todd had jumped slightly at the fact he almost got pelted in the face with a bag of marshmallows, and was silently thanking Neil.

 

“Damn right it is.” Sally snickered. “Did we grab stuff for S’Mores?”

 

“No but—” Ashley began before Sally cut her off.

 

“Good because I did.” Immediately, Sally grabbed the graham crackers and chocolate from their cart and threw it into the other one.

 

“Quit throwing things.” Todd eyed Sally.

 

“Make me.” Sally replied, squinting at him, sporting a sly smile under his mask.

 

Larry’s grip on the shopping cart tightened for a moment, his face going red whenever he heard Sally utter those words. Sally turned slightly, looking at Larry. He could tell that Sally had an obvious smirk on his lips, just by the way he was looking at him.

 

“Will you two quit it? We have to finish shopping.” Todd sighed.

 

“I can feel the sexual tension from here.” Ashley giggled.

 

Immediately, both Sally and Larry became incredibly flustered.

 

“W-Wait!” Larry began.

 

“Hey!” Sally exclaimed.

 

Ashley just giggled, earning a laugh from Todd and Neil as well.

 

“Come on,” Todd said through his laughter, shaking his head a bit. “Let’s finish shopping.”

 

\--

 

After they had finally finished and paid for everything and loaded up the van, the group had finally made their way to the campsite. Of course, Todd and Neil had been going back and forth at each other about where exactly the campsite was, considering it was a bit of an offroad drive to get there. But finally, they made it.

 

“Oh wow!” Ashley exclaimed, throwing her seatbelt off and jumping out of the now parked van.

 

“It’s beautiful…” Larry climbed out of the van, his eyes wide in awe.

 

“Oh man…” Sally gasped, following Larry and taking in his surroundings.

 

“It’s just like how I remember it.” Neil smiled.

 

The area was indeed beautiful. Tall pine trees towered over the campsite, a few thick stumps of cut down pines scattered randomly, perfect for sitting on. The sky was a vibrant blue with small white clouds floating along with the wind, the sky mirroring the beautiful blue lake. The bright and clear cerulean water ebbed and flowed gently, splashing against the soft brown sand along the shore. Rocks and boulders scattered the shoreline, along with random bushes, grass and even some flowers. A few feet above the shoreline, green grass and sandy-dirt covered the ground of the campsite. A picnic table sat a few feet away from a stone fire pit, old ashes covering the bottom of the fire pit. An old wooden dock led out from the campsite, over the shoreline and right into a part of the lake deep enough to jump in to.

The air was warm, humidity very little but present enough for a warm June day. A gentle breeze would occasionally blow through, creating a calm and soft atmosphere. The sound of sneakers and boots scuffing against the dirt could be heard as the group began unloading the van and the car.

It had taken about 2 hours to fully unload and set up, but once everything was done, the campsite looked perfectly put together. Currently, Todd and Neil had been finishing setting up the last of the three tents. The sleeping arrangement had been decided prior to them leaving. Todd and Neil would share one tent, Chug, Maple and Soda would share the second tent, and Sally and Larry would get the last one. As for Ash, she’d personally chosen to sleep on an air mattress in the back of the van.

 

“Wrong pole, Todd.” Neil pointed to the pole that Todd was currently trying to shove into a part of the tent.

 

“That’s what she said.” Larry smirked, kicking his shoes off outside of his and Sally’s tent that had already been set up.

 

Todd snorted, covering his mouth, causing Neil to laugh in return.

 

As Larry entered his and Sally’s tent, he was met with one of the cutest views he’d seen in quite a while.

 

“Uncle sawwy!” Exclaimed Soda, sitting on one end of the air mattress. “Up!”

 

“Up we go!” Sally replied, flopping onto the opposite end of the air mattress.

 

Soda squealed loudly, being launched slightly into the air, then falling back down onto their air mattress. Larry looked at both Sally and Soda with a wide smile, then flopped himself face down onto the middle of the air mattress, sending both Soda and Sally into their air.

 

“Woah—!” Sally yelped, going up a few inches, then landing on Larry.

 

“Eeee!” Soda squealed, going up higher than Sally, but landing back on the air mattress next to Larry.

Larry laughed loudly, rolling over and wrapping an arm around Sally, and the other arm around Soda. “Sorry!” He chuckled. “I couldn’t help myself.”

 

“Mm. You’re forgiven.” Sally laughed, placing his head on Larry’s chest.

 

Larry nodded, yawning before he could form a response.

 

“Tired?” Sally asked, Watching as Soda cuddled up against Larry’s side.

 

“Yeah… But—” Larry yawned again. “We gotta… finish setting up.”

 

“Let’s just close our eyes for a second, okay?” Sally closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

 

“Mmm… Sure, but just for a second, okay?” Larry closed his eyes,

 

And with that, Larry had fallen asleep with Sally and Soda falling asleep on either side of him. They stayed like this for a while, all tuckered out from their day of adventures. They would obviously need a lot of rest though, considering that when it came to this camping trip, there were many more adventures to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends!!  
> I wanted to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. School has been driving me insane.  
> Also, I wanted to say hello and thank you to all my beautiful friends who have been supporting me during this fic. I also wanted to say a very special thank you to my friend Silas, who has been drawing AMAZING fanart of the fic! <3 Love you, Silas!  
> Also hello to all my lovely readers who found my fic from TikTok! I love you all a ton. 
> 
> Side note: I am aware that I have Larry's height in this fic different from his canon height. I know Larry is canonically 5'8'' and I made him 5'11'' in the fic. I'm a sucker for big height differences, and I've always been imagining Larry as a lot taller than Sal. Pls don't kill me. 
> 
> I hope you all had a good time reading this chapter! 
> 
> See you soon! 
> 
> Love & Pixels,  
> Scout


	11. The Spontaneous Sally Fisher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally & Larry have an interesting day while camping.

The morning air was gentle, and the atmosphere was soft. As the birds chirped and sang among the tall oak trees, and the early morning chill carried itself through the air, the fire quietly crackled in the middle of the campsite. The smell of eggs and bacon and breakfast potatoes being cooked on a cast iron skillet wafted through the air, the popping of the bacon signaling that the food was almost ready. 

In their tent, Sally awoke gently, finding his face pressed against Larry’s chest. Keeping his eyes closed, he nuzzled deeper into the sleeping bag, finding himself completely cocooned inside the sleeping bag as he pressed into Larry. 

“Mmn…” Sally moaned softly, not wanting to move from his current position, and almost bothered by the fact that he’d woken up. He was so warm, Larry giving off so much body heat, it willed away the cool morning air. Sally’s face rested against the fabric of Larry’s T-shirt, Larry’s arm wrapped around Sally’s small body. Sally inhaled Larry’s scent, a hint of what seemed like Old Spice deodorant and the campfire from the previous night. 

“Mm..?” Larry groaned softly, inhaling through his nose. The chill of the air hit his face, causing him to burrow down deeper into the sleeping bag and press his face against the top of Sally’s head. The lingering scent of the campfire stuck to Sally’s messy blue locks, Larry nuzzling his face a bit more against Sally’s head. 

Sally couldn’t help but chuckle softly, Larry’s hands aimlessly rubbing along Sally’s sides and back. In his sleepy state, Sally let out a giggle, his sides sensitive to being tickled under Larry’s touch. 

Larry lifted his face from the top of Sally’s head, a smirk forming on his face as he heard the giggle that Sally let out. 

 

“Morning, Sally Face…” Larry’s voice was rough and full of sleep. 

 

“Five more minutes…” Sally smiled softly, curling up in the sleeping bag. 

 

“C’mon, let’s get up.” Larry sat up slowly, the air mattress squeaking slightly under his movement.

 

Sally shook his head, causing Larry to unzip their sleeping bags down the middle. While each of them had brought their own sleeping bags, they’d zipped them together so they’d be able to stay close and warm while they slept. 

Larry pulled the sleeping bag down, exposing Sally to the morning air. “Nooo!” Sally laughed, curling in on himself more. He covered his face with his sleeve-covered hands, shaking his head. “I said five more minutes!” 

 

Larry scooted closer to Sally, brushing his fingers lovingly through Sally’s hair. “Come on, everyone else is probably up already.” 

 

Sally sighed, shaking his head once again. He uncurled from himself slightly, opening his eye and attempting to grab at the sleeping bag once again to pull it back over himself. Larry rolled his eyes, pushing the sleeping bag further away from Sally’s grasp. 

 

“Larry, I’m tir—” Before Sally could finish that sentence, Larry straddled him. Sally had instinctively rolled onto his back, looking up at Larry, his face going red. Larry slipped his hands into Sally’s, pinning Sally’s arms above his head. 

 

“L-Larry?” Sally was now wide awake, and very confused. He looked up at Larry, who was staring down at him with an expression that he could only describe as passion and lust. He wasn’t sure what to do or how to respond, but when Larry kissed him deeply, his let out a surprised moan into Larry’s mouth. 

Larry let go of Sally’s hands, his hands traveling down Sally’s body, which was heating up quickly. As the pair continued to kiss each other softly, Larry nipping slightly at Sally’s bottom lip, he rested his hands on Sally’s sides for a moment. 

 

This moment of pure bliss and slight lust quickly concluded, though. As Larry’s hands gently rested along Sally’s sides, he took that opportune moment to use his number one tactic at getting Sally up in the morning. 

 

Tickling him. 

 

Immediately, Larry began tickling feverishly at Sally’s sides, Sally arching his back up and flailing his legs in response. Sally erupted into a fit of screaming laughter, his hands quickly meeting Larry’s as he attempted to pull his hands from his sides. 

 

“L-Larry!” Sally cried with laughter, his smile wide and eyes shut tight. “Stooop!” He squealed loudly. 

 

“Time to wake up, dorkface!” Larry leaned down at he continued to tickle Sally, littering quick kisses all over Sally’s face and neck. 

 

Sally kicked his legs, squirming violently underneath Larry. “F-Fine!” He choked out, letting another laugh-filled scream escape his lungs. “J-Just! Sto- Stop!” 

 

Larry finally ceased his torturous tickling, smiling brightly and wrapping his arms tightly around Sally. “I’m sorry, it’s just fun to tease you.” 

 

Sally caught his breath, wrapping his arms around Larry and relaxing. “It’s fine. I l--...” Sally paused completely, before clearing his throat. “Let’s go get breakfast.”

“Sounds good, Sally Face.” 

 

\--

 

“Sounds like you two were having a fun morning.” Ashley sat, slightly reclined in a camping chair as she clutched a mug of tea in her hands. 

 

Sally and Larry both emerged from the tent, Larry adorned in his t-shirt, hoodie and flannel pajama pants. Sally followed, clad in his black sweater, mask, prosthetic eye, and similar flannel pajama pants. Sally’s hand rested in Larry’s as he yawned under his mask. Larry just smiled. 

 

“Just gotta tickle a dude to wake him up sometimes.” Larry grinned. 

 

“Sounds about right.” Maple added, holding Soda in her lap as she sat in a camping chair next to Ash. 

 

“Morning, you two. Hungry?” Neil grabbed a paper plate from the picnic table that was covered in foil. He took the foil off, revealing the breakfast leftovers they’d saved for Sally and Larry. Now that the pair of lovebirds were finally awake and had left their tent, the entire group was now sitting around the morning fire, enjoying the early hours of the day. Everyone was still in their pajamas, including Todd, who looked like a mess. 

 

“Starving, thanks!” Sally took the plate happily. 

 

As the group all sat down together, Larry and Sally eating breakfast, they spoke about possible plans for the day. Neil talked about the possibilities of taking a hike, which was violently unappealing to Todd. Ash had explained the possibility of swimming, and Chug and Maple talked about teaching Soda some campsite crafts or taking a nature walk with her. 

As for Sally and Larry, the pair had their own plans. 

 

\--

 

“Stop moving, please?” Larry furrowed his brows, glancing up at Sally. 

 

“Sorry, it’s hard when you’re having me face the sun.” 

 

“You only have one eye, and that eye is blocked from the sun by my shadow.” 

 

“Dude.” 

 

Larry snorted. 

 

Currently, the pair was sitting out on the wooden dock. The sun had risen high into the sky at this point, and Sally was attempting to hide from it the best that he could. Larry sat, cross legged with his sketchbook in his lap. One pencil was currently held between his nimble fingers, and another pencil was currently sitting behind his ear. His shirt was laid on the dock, the sun warming up the area quickly throughout the day that caused him to wear as little clothing as socially possible. That being the case, he was only clad in a pair of cargo-shorts and flip flops. His hair was tied up into a messy ponytail, and he overall seemed very relaxed. 

Sally followed Larry in his ‘as little clothing as possible’ act. He was currently just in his boxers and a flannel, keeping his arms and shoulders covered while his chest and stomach stayed exposed. 

With everyone except for Ash off and doing their own activities for the day, the campsite was quiet. This calm feeling was something that both Larry and Sally desperately deserved. After the past few months and the amount of emotions they’d both been dealing with, a vacation was nice for a change. 

 

As Larry continued sketching a few strands of Sally’s hair, he smiled, pausing for a moment and looking at him. The way that the sun hit his mask and his hair and his… everything. Larry suddenly felt his heart flutter, as if he was seeing him for the first time all over again. Except this time, he wasn’t a stranger, he was  _ his _ . His soft blue hair that always looked so pretty when it was grasped in between Larry’s fingers… His beautiful blue eyes, where one shined in the sunshine just a little bit brighter than the other. The curves of his body were as if he was made from God himself, where the curve of his collarbone and the stature of his strong shoulders just mixed into one, goddamn beautiful, perfect, man.

 

Larry was in love with everything about him. 

 

Larry was in love with  **him** .   
  


Sally found himself giggle softly, tilting his head and looking at Larry. 

 

“Lar? You alright?” He waved a hand in front of his face. 

 

“H-Huh? What?” Larry suddenly came back down to earth, a smile resting on his face without him even realizing it. 

 

“You were staring at me for a longer time than usual.” Sally chuckled. 

 

“O-Oh, I was?” Larry nervously chuckled. “I’m sorry… I just… You look really nice in this light.” 

 

“I wouldn’t know, I can’t see since the sun is still in my eyes.” Sally said with a sprinkle of pettiness in his words. 

 

Larry looked over his shoulder for a moment, seeing that none of their other friends were anywhere to be found. With that, he leaned forward and unclipped the bottom buckle of Sally’s mask. Sally sat completely still, always feeling a bit awkward whenever Larry took his mask off for him.  

Larry slipped the mask up, pressing his lips deeply into Sally’s. Sally melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Larry’s shoulders. Sally smiled into the kiss, pressing deeper into the kiss, which accidentally caused Sally to tumble backwards. As Larry now rested on top of Sal, the pair making out as they laid on the dock together, Larry and Sally could both feel their hearts fluttering. 

 

Larry broke the kiss, Sally letting out a whine in protest as his lips suddenly felt so lonely. His mask had slipped up past the top of his head in the midst of the passion, the mask now resting right above him on the dock. 

 

Sally placed a hand on the back of Larry’s head, pressing his head down a bit so he could kiss him once more. Larry laughed into the kiss, breaking it and earning another, this time more aggressive, whine from Sally. 

 

“Sal?” Larry smiled, looking down into Sally’s eyes. 

 

“Yeah, Lar?” Sally couldn’t help but smile back. 

 

“I… I’ve been… wanting to say, for a while now… Sally, I think, I L--” 

 

He was instantly interrupted. 

 

“Sally, Larry! Come quick!” Screamed Ash from the campsite. 

 

Larry quickly jumped up off of Sally. Sally sat up, grabbing his mask and slipping it back on. Larry grabbed his shirt and sketchbook, using his free hand to help Sally stand up. He didn’t let go of Sally’s hand as they ran back to the campsite. 

 

“What, what’s going on?!” Sally suddenly sounded panicked. 

 

He came back to Ashley, who had her cellphone out while trying to desperately get service. The pair looked over to see Maple, tears streaming down her face as all of the tents were now opened and obviously searched through. Chug had just slammed the back of the van closed, shaking his head. Chug looked like he was on the brink of tears. 

 

“She’s not in the van, either.” Chug exhaled, seeming frustrated and scared. 

 

“W-We can’t find Soda.” Ash looked up at Sally, shaking her head. Her eyes quickly darted back and forth between her phone and Sally. 

 

“You guys lost her?” Sally was attempting to keep his cool, while Larry was quietly but internally freaking out. 

 

“She ran off.” Maple explained, tears running down her face. “We-- We were on a hike, and she saw a squirrel and she darted off before either of us could get to her. By the time we thought we could catch up to her, she was gone. We can’t find her anywhere.” 

 

Larry walked over, placing his hands on Maple’s shoulders. She looked up at him, hoping desperately he’d have some kind of answer. 

 

“Don’t worry, alright?” His voice cracked slightly out of nervousness. “We’re gonna find her.” 

 

Maple nodded, looking away as she suddenly began to cry harder. She was shaking, and obviously so scared. She never showed many emotions, and when she did, it was usually over something big. And this, was probably the scariest moment of her life. 

 

“We looked everywhere, the tents, the van, the bathrooms, we can’t find her.” Chug explained, his voice rigid. 

 

“Where are Todd and Neil?” Sally asked. 

 

“They’re checking all the campsites to the left of us. They’re checking if anyone found her.” Ashley explained, shaking her phone as if to help her get a signal. 

 

“Then we’ll check the ones to the right of us.” Sally nodded, running over to his tent. He pulled on a pair of jeans, and removed his flannel to put a shirt on, promptly putting the flannel back on. 

 

“Come on Lar.” Sally told as he pulled his sneakers on. 

 

“Coming.” Larry nodded towards Sally. “We’re gonna find her, alright?” He told Maple. 

 

“Okay.” Maple’s words were so soft, they were barely audible. 

 

Larry pulled his shirt on, and with that, they were off. 

 

\--

 

Larry had began feeling his anxiety brewing in his stomach, feeling sick. As they were now on their way to check their fifth campsite, he almost felt like he was beginning to lose hope. He was beginning to feel as though his reassurance towards Maple was just empty promises or blatant lies. Either way, it didn’t feel good. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Sally looked up at Larry, taking his hand and holding it tightly. 

 

“Huh?” Larry looked down at Sally, feeling as though he was being pulled out of his own bad thoughts by Sally holding his hand. 

 

“We’ll find her, I know we will. Soda’s the type of kid to accidentally run away and get lost, then get scared that she’s gonna get in trouble, so she hides. She’d done it since she could walk.” Sally squeezed Larry’s hand, earning a squeeze back from Larry. 

 

“You sure?” 

 

“I’m sure.” 

 

\--

 

As the pair approached the 7th or so campsite, they were met with a lovely woman, sitting at a picnic table, drinking a glass of white wine and reading a book. Her fair skin was complemented by lovely and long wavy purple hair. 

 

She looked up, tilting her head to the side and smiling a bit. “Oh!” She set the book down, keeping the wine glass in hand. “Can I help you?” 

 

“Hi-- Sorry about bothering you. But have you seen this little girl?” Sally had taken out his wallet, pulling out a small photo of him holding Soda when she was about 3.

 

The woman stood from the picnic table, taking a closer look at the photo, then taking a sip of the wine. “Mm!” She nodded, swallowing the sip. “I had a feeling that Megan’s little friend didn’t tell her parents about their playdate.” She chuckled. 

 

“So you’ve seen her?!” Hope was present in Larry’s voice. 

 

The woman nodded and smiled. “Megan!” She exclaimed. “Can you and your friend come here, please?” 

 

“Coming, Mommy!” Shouted a small voice from their tent. A little girl with blue hair emerged from the Tent, and lo and behold, Soda was with her. 

 

“Soda!” Sally exclaimed, tucking the wallet and photo back in his pocket. He crouched down, opening his arms. 

Larry felt as though the weight of a million pounds was lifted from his shoulders at that moment. He exhaled with relief, feeling as though he could finally breathe again. 

 

“Uncle Sawwy!” Soda squealed, running past the blue haired girl and jumping into Sally’s arms. 

 

“You scared us so badly, you little troublemaker!” He squeezed her into a tight hug, standing up as he held her tight. 

 

“Soda! We were so worried little dude!” Larry ruffled Soda’s hair, earning a squeak from her. 

 

The woman and her daughter watched the reunion, the woman smiling softly as the little girl pouted. 

 

“I’m sorry that my Megan caused you all a fright. She said that Soda’s parents knew that she was here.” The woman apologized. 

 

“I’m sorry… I just wanted someone to play with.” Megan sighed, crossing her arms. 

 

“Hey, it’s alright.” Sally passed off Soda to Larry, who held her in his arms and rubbed her back softly. 

 

Sally crouched down to Megan’s level, looking at her. “Don’t worry, alright? I know what it’s like to be lonely. You just didn’t wanna lose your friend. I understand.” 

 

Megan nodded, smiling a bit. “My mommy says that friends make everything better.” 

 

“Well your mommy sounds like a smart lady.” Sally looked up at the woman, who just smiled. 

 

“She is!” Megan exclaimed happily. 

 

Sally chuckled. “Listen. If it’s alright with your mommy, you can come over to our campsite and play with Soda whenever she’s there. We’re here for a few more days.” He stood up straight again, looking to the woman. 

 

“That sounds wonderful.” The woman smiled, ruffling Megan’s hair. “We’ll have to ask Daddy, though.” 

 

“Okay!” Megan smiled big. 

 

“I’m Stacy, and thank you for being so kind to my daughter, even if she did cause you a fright with your…” She gestured to Soda, questioning the relation for a moment. 

 

“Our niece.” Sally placed a hand on Larry’s shoulder. At the use of ‘our’, Larry raised an eyebrow and his cheeks flushed slightly. 

 

“Well, I’m sorry that Megan caused you a fright with your niece.” Stacy nodded. 

 

“It’s alright. I’m Sally and this is my boyfriend, Larry. It’s nice to meet you, Stacy. You too, Megan.”

 

“That’s a girl’s name!” Megan exclaimed. 

 

Sally smiled underneath his mask. “I guess so, huh?” 

 

“Why do you have a girl’s name?” Megan asked. 

 

“Megan!” Stacy interrupted. 

 

“Because that’s my name.” Sally deadpanned, causing Larry to chuckle a bit. 

 

“Oh. You’re right, I guess.” 

 

“Yeah.” Sally laughed. “It was nice to meet you both, but we’ve got to get this little one back to her parents.” 

 

“Oh of course, they’re probably worried sick! Have a wonderful day, you three!” Stacy smiled. 

 

“Bye Soda!” Megan waved. “Bye Sally, Bye Larry!” 

 

“Bye Megan!” Soda waved. 

 

\-- 

 

On the walk back to the campsite, Soda had quietly fallen asleep against Larry’s chest. Sally had a hand clasping onto Larry’s shirt, which Larry didn’t question until he’d realized that Sally hadn’t said a single word on the walk back. 

 

“You alright?” Larry asked softly. 

 

“Huh? Oh… Yeah. I’m just… I guess I’m finally letting all the anxiety I had during the situation catch up with me now.” Sally admitted, idly moving his fingers on his free hand. 

 

“You just… Keep it all in until the situation is resolved?” A look of concern came to Larry’s face. 

 

“I guess so, yeah.” 

 

“So what do you do if the situation isn’t resolved?” 

 

“Suffer, I guess.”

 

Larry sighed, shifting Soda in his arms so he could hold her with one arm, using the other one to hold Sally’s hand. 

 

“You know you can talk to me, Sally Face.” He assured him. 

 

“I know… Just, sometimes I feel like I need to be grounded so I can keep you grounded with me.” Sally explained. 

 

“You don’t have to do that.” 

 

“Yeah, but I want to.” 

 

The pair was quiet, but at that moment, Larry was more grateful for Sally than he’d ever been before. 

 

He was in love with him. 

 

\-- 

 

“Soda!” Maple exclaimed, running towards Larry and pulling the little girl from his arms. She awoke quickly, going from asleep to full on ecstatic in seconds. 

 

“Mommy!” Soda yelled, hugging Maple tightly. 

 

“Oh, God, Soda! You scared us!” Chug joined the hug, holding both his wife and his daughter close. 

 

“Where was she?!” Ashley asked, a wide smile on her face. 

 

“She was having an unscheduled playdate with a girl from a neighboring campsite.” Sally’s hand was still clasped tightly in Larry’s. 

 

“I’m so glad you guys found her.” 

 

“Yeah…” Larry looked over at Sally. “Me too.” 

 

\-- 

 

Time had passed, Todd and Neil had come back to the campsite, and things were calm once again. The day had turned to twilight and the twilight turned to night as the stars once again came out to dance across the navy blue sky. 

Sally and Larry had been laying out on the dock together, Larry finishing off his second hard cider. It was sometime around 11 PM and everyone else had gone to sleep, exhausted from their busy days. 

As They laid there, staring up at the stars, Sally sat with his mask off to the side. After having to wear it all day, constantly sweating from the summer heat, it was nice to just sit without it for a change. But he kept the mask in close grabbing distance in case he had to slip it on quickly again. 

 

Sally had been finishing up telling Larry a story, a memory from high school that caused Larry to giggle profusely at all of the dumb details. 

 

“Yeah,” Sally continued his story, “Chug’s locker was never the same after that. I felt bad though, we did sorta prank him a little too hard.” 

 

Larry laughed, shaking his head. He looked over at Sally, drinking in the beautiful view for a moment. 

 

“That’s so unlike you, dude.” Larry added, a gentle smirk on his face. 

 

“What do you mean?” Sally raised an eyebrow, sitting up on his elbows a bit and looking at Larry. 

 

“I dunno… You’re just not super… spontaneous, I guess?” 

 

“I’m plenty spontaneous, Larry Johnson.” Sally now sat up completely, still looking at Larry.

 

“Woah, pulling out the big boy names.” Larry teased, sitting up as well. “I don’t know, I guess you just like to plan stuff, dude.” 

 

“I’m plenty spontaneous.” Sally stood up, crossing his arms. 

 

“Yeah?” Larry raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side. 

 

“I am.” 

 

“Alright, sure dude.” 

 

“I am!” Sally laughed. 

 

“Sure you are!” 

 

Sally narrowed his eyes at Larry, staring at him for a moment. He looked around, and quickly nodded to himself. Suddenly, Sally kicked his shoes and socks off. He began tugging at his pants, pulling them off quickly. He pulled the shirt and flannel off of his torso, and with that, he pulled his underwear off too. 

 

“S-Sal?!” Larry’s eyes went wide and his face went bright red. “The f-fuck are you doing, dude?!” 

 

“How’s this for spontaneous?” Sally winked at Larry, now standing completely naked on the dock. 

 

“Wha--” Before Larry could ask any more questions, Sally ran to the end of the dock, and jumped into the water. 

 

“Sal!” Larry scrambled to his feet, tripping a bit as he made his way to the end of the dock. He looked down, seeing Sally pop up above the water, quickly slicking his wet hair out of his face. 

 

“Sal, what the fuck, dude!?” Larry couldn’t help but laugh. 

 

“Get in, pussy!” Sally yelled. 

 

“I’m not getting in, it’s probably freezing!” Larry protested.

 

“Get in, pussy!!” Sally yelled again, but louder. 

 

“Dude. my balls will fucking _ascend_ into my body.” Larry squinted at him. 

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, because, uh, my balls? They’re fine.” Sally contradicted. 

 

“Y'know what? Fine.” 

 

Sally responded with an excited cheer. Larry looked around and pulled off his shirt and pants, followed by his shoes. He questioned why he took his shoes off last, but he digressed. As he slipped off his boxers, the night air suddenly hit him with a hard chill.

 

“Fuckfuckfuckfuck, alright!” Larry inhaled hard, plugging his nose with his index finger and thumb before jumping into the water. 

 

Sally laughed excitedly, grabbing onto Larry as soon as he popped up above the water. 

 

“It’s f-fucking freezing, dude!” Larry shivered, but proceeded to laugh. “You lied to me!” 

 

“F-fuck yeah I lied, you dork! You wouldn’t have come in if I’d told you!” Sally laughed, pressing himself close to Larry. 

 

“You dork, I love you!!” Larry exclaimed, pulling Sally into a quick kiss. 

Sally felt his heart flutter. 

 

Then Larry realized what he said. 

 

“I..” Sally took a moment, before a huge smile came to his face. “I love you too!” 

 

“Y-you do?” 

 

“Yes! I love you!” Sally repeated.

 

Larry paused, the water splashing around them as he embraced Sally. Sally held on tightly to Larry, laughing happily. 

 

“I love you, Sally Fisher. I fucking love you. I want everyone to know, that I am in love with a boy and his name is Sally Fisher!” Larry was both flustered and ecstatic at the same time. He then leaned his head back, looking up to the sky. “YOU HEAR THAT, WORLD?!” He yelled. “I’M IN LOVE WITH SALLY FISHER!” 

 

Sally laughed, feeling as though everything in his life, everything he’s ever been through, every step he’s ever taken, has led him to this point in his life. It’s led him to the most beautiful, the funniest, dorkiest, most wonderful and caring person he’s ever met. Every decision he’s made in his life led him up to currently swimming naked in a lake with his beautiful boyfriend, who was screaming at the stars and the moon over how much he loved him. 

 

“I love you. I love you so much, Larry…” Sally kissed Larry once more. Sally felt as though if it was possible to die from happiness, he was already dead. 

 

Larry tangled his fingers in Sally’s messy wet hair, kissing him hard, then littering soft kisses all over his face. “I love you…” 

 

The pair stayed close and embraced for a minute or so more, before the cold really started to get to them both. 

 

“Wanna run back to the tent and cuddle for warmth?” Sally proposed. 

 

“Oh absolutely.” 

 

The pair made their way over to the side of the dock where the ladder resided. Sally climbed up first, Larry enjoying the view as he watched Sally climb the ladder. 

 

“ _ Nice. _ ” Larry mumbled into the water before swimming over and climbing out himself. 

 

Both boys shivered profusely, quickly gathering up their clothes and other belongings before running back to the tent. It was probably a bad idea to skinny dip when they hadn’t brought any towels over to the dock in the first place, having to wait until they returned to the tent to dry off. 

 

Once back to the tent and (thankfully) unseen by any of their friends, Larry grabbed some towels from one of the bags in the tent. As Sally zipped up the tent entrance behind him, Larry handed him a towel. The pair quickly dried off to the best of their abilities, shaking from the cold. Quickly, they both made their way into their conjoined sleeping bags, skipping the pajamas and just pressing close to each other for warmth. 

 

“I love you…” Larry mumbled against Sally’s wet hair. 

 

“I love you more…” Sally replied, his words muffled against Larry’s chest. 

 

“I love you most…” Larry smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME AND MY SLOW UPDATES ;-;  
> I've been CRAZY busy for so long recently. College kicked my ass, then work kicked my ass, and keeping up with making content on TikTok has also been killing me. But I hope that both this, and chapter 13 (the smut that came with this chapter) will make up for my absence!  
> I love you guys!   
> See you again soon!   
> Love & Pixels,  
> Scout


	12. Hair Ties & First Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NSFW - THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SMUT AND EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT   
> A continuation of chapter 11.

The pair had fallen asleep for a short amount of time, waking up about an hour or so later around the same time. There were no loud noises or nightmares that woke them up this time, but more so that Larry had accidentally left the little electric lantern on, and Sally was beginning to feel some discomfort since he hadn’t taken his eye out. 

As Larry sat up, turning towards the lantern to turn it off, he noticed Sally sit up and pop his eye out. He dropped it into the reusable water bottle he’d brought just for that purpose. 

Both boys were considerably warm again, and were feeling very comfortable and gentle. 

 

As they laid down again, all lanterns turned off and glass eyes taken out, Larry pressed a kiss to Sally’s forehead. Sally exhaled softly, wrapping his arms around Larry gently. Slowly, Larry began to trail his kisses down, beginning to kiss Sally’s jawline and neck. Sally placed a soft hand on Larry’s face, turning his head slightly so their lips met. 

Their kisses were soft and delicate at first, but for some reason began to grow deeper and more passionate. Slowly, Larry rolled on top of Sally, their unclothed bodies pressed closely together. Sally gently began to drag his nails along Larry’s back, Larry emitting a soft noise of pleasure into Sally’s mouth. Sally took this as a sign, and pressed his nails deeper into the soft skin of Larry’s back, dragging his nails slowly up his skin. Sally created pink and red marks in Larry’s back, Larry enjoying every second of it as they kissed deeper and deeper. 

 

The pair was used to this type of playing around. Usually they’d make out for a while, jerk each other off, or they’d give each other head. But otherwise, they’d never done anything past that. But Larry’s mind had been swirling, this night being that of spontaneity and love filled confessions. Even though he was kissing Sally, holding him close, feeling his fingernails in his back, he wanted more. He craved more. 

 

“Let me fuck you.” Larry was unable to keep himself from blurting the words out as he broke the kiss. 

 

“Fuck yea-- Wait, what?” Sally suddenly opened his eyes and looked up in the darkness at Larry, confused. “What did you just say?” 

 

“L-Let me fuck you?” Larry repeated, this time with less confidence in his voice. 

 

Sally was quiet for a moment, before nodding. “Sure.” 

 

“Wait, really?” Larry seemed surprised, continuing to look down at Sally. 

 

“Yeah, really.” Sally couldn’t help but giggle at Larry’s expression. 

 

“Dude, hell yeah!” Larry immediately brought Sally into a deep kiss once more, propping himself up on his elbow so he could use his other hand to begin jacking himself off. He’d already been semi-hard, but if they were really gonna be doing this, he wanted to be completely hard for the occasion. 

Sally took quick note of Larry’s actions, tangling one hand in Larry’s beautiful brown hair while using the other hand to begin stroking his own cock as well. Sally moaned out gently, sounding like music to Larry’s ears. He broke the kiss, earning a protestful whine from Sally. Larry just smirked, sitting up as he continued to slowly jerk himself off. 

As Larry sat up, he accidentally brought the top of the sleeping bag with him, exposing both himself and Sally to the chill air of the night as the sleeping bag fell down behind him. He took in the beautiful view before him, watching as Sally impatiently stroked himself. 

 

“What are you waiting for?” Sally asked, spreading his legs. 

 

As Larry continued to stare down at Sally, a gentle smirk resting on his lips, he was going through every possible idea in his head on how to go about this. He’d never had sex before or done anything more than the things they’d already done together, let alone had actual penetrative sex with someone of the same sex. 

He just paused, placing one hand on Sally’s hip and keeping the other on his length. 

 

“Larry?” Sally brought Larry out of his inquisitive state. 

 

“Hm?” Larry hummed, looking at him. 

 

“You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” Sally smiled a bit, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“I…” Larry looked Sally up and down, idly rubbing his thumb against the skin of Sally’s hip. “Yeah… I can’t even lie.” 

 

“You stick it… In…--” 

 

“I know where to put it, Sal.” 

 

“Then what’s the problem?” Sally sat up on his elbows, tilting his head to the side. 

 

“I don’t know… How.” Larry’s face turned a bright red as he turned his head to the side. 

 

“What?” 

 

“I don’t know how.” 

 

“You… Just put it in…” Sally suddenly sounded unsure of himself as well. 

 

Larry nodded, letting go of his cock and placing his hand on Sally’s other hip. He raised Sally’s hips a bit, causing Sally to drop off his elbows and suddenly fall back onto the air mattress. This earned a laugh from both boys as Larry let go of Sally’s hips with one hand and attempted to guide his cock into Sally, the darkness making it difficult. Could Larry have turned on a lantern to make this easier for himself? Yes. Did he? No. 

 

It was essentially a process of Larry accidentally pressing the tip of his dick against different areas on Sally’s lower body: his thighs, his ass cheeks, anywhere but where he was trying to get to. By the time Larry had actually managed to guide himself into Sally, he was having a difficult time actually  _ getting himself in. _

Sally let out a noise of discomfort, turning his head to the side and grimacing. 

 

“O-Ow, fuck, Lar--” Sally groaned, wiggling his hips a bit. 

 

“I-I’m sorry, it won’t go in.” 

 

“B-Because you’re forcing it too hard.” Sally whined. 

 

“How am I supposed to get it in if I don’t press it in hard?!” Larry raised an eyebrow at him. 

 

“I don’t know, I’ve never done this before, either!” 

Larry sighed, giving up and dropping Sally’s hips back down onto the air mattress. He flopped down next to Sally, Sally Instinctively laying on top of Larry and clinging to him. 

 

“Maybe we should do this a different time when we’re in a better lit place and not… in the middle of the fuckin’ woods, dude.” Larry chuckled and closed his eyes. 

 

“Yeah, you’re right…” Sally exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment. “Are you still…?”

“Hard? Yeah.” 

 

Sally couldn’t help but giggle. “Wanna face fuck me then?” 

 

Larry opened his eyes. “You for real?” 

 

“As real as real gets, dude.” Sally opened his eyes and sat up, reaching above their air mattress and into a small cosmetics bag on the floor of the tent. He pulled out two hair elastics and quickly put his hair into his signature two ponytails. 

 

“Heh. Handlebars.” Larry chuckled. 

 

“Alright, no head for you.” Sally’s expression went serious for a moment. 

 

“Wait nonononono—!!” Larry panicked, sitting up quickly. 

 

“I’m just kidding, dumbass.” Sally’s expression turned back to playful and seductive as Larry let out a sigh of relief. 

 

Larry watched as Sally got on top of him, Sally making his way down his body until his mouth was positioned right above his cock. Without a word, Sally slipped the entire tip of it into his mouth, earning a much needed groan of relief from Larry. Larry had trouble controlling himself, placing a hand on the back of Sally’s head and pressing his head down. 

Sally exhaled through his nose, closing his eyes and allowing Larry to push his head down. If there was one thing he was good at, it was being able to control his gag reflex. 

 

“F-Fuck, Sal…” Larry leaned his head back and groaned, lovingly placing a hand on either side of Sally’s head. Out of just pure instinct, the brunette began moving Sally’s head up and down on his cock. Sally let out a moan and a sharp inhale as Larry bucked his hips up a bit. 

 

Of course, this wasn’t the first time the pair had done this. The first time they did this, Sally learned how much he absolutely loved being used like this by Larry. Their relationship was always focused on consent, safety and comfort. This was something Sally loved about Larry. But when they did this, Sally loved letting Larry take control for a moment and just use him how he pleased. 

Sally moved his head along with Larry’s hands the best he could, but found it easier to just allow Larry to move his head for him, and let him do most of the work. Larry was feeling nothing but pleasure. His eyes were closed tightly and head thrown back over the edge of the air mattress. A thin layer of sweat had formed on his body, and his face and ears were both a flustered red color. He would continue bucking his hips upwards and moving Sally’s head downwards at the same time. He’d feel his cock slip into the smaller man’s throat, Sally letting out an inhale or a muffled moan in response. 

Sally whined, moving a hand down along his own body as he began jacking himself off once again, attempting to match the pace that Larry was going. 

 

“G-Good boy…” Larry stuttered out in an attempt to dirty talk, earning a soft, happy whine from Sally. 

 

Larry’s hands had been holding Sally’s head rather than his hair, but he figured that Sally should be getting more enjoyment out of this as well. He tangled his fingers in the hair at the base of Sally’s head on either side, gripping it slightly. The elastics that were holding his ponytails came loose from all the movement, giving Larry more hair to pull at. 

 

He pulled at Sally’s hair as he pressed his head down hard all the way, earning a hard moan from Sally that sent shivers down Larry’s spine. Larry could barely contain himself, but needed to make sure that Sally was alright. 

He lifted his head a bit, looking at Sally. He pulled Sally’s head up a bit as well. 

 

“Y-You alright?” Larry asked, looking down at him. 

 

“Mhm.” Sally hummed.

 

“Good.” He smiled. 

 

Before Sally could even acknowledge the soft moment they’d had there, Larry had shoved his head back down onto his cock. Sally let out a moan of surprise, Larry feeling himself growing closer and closer to climax. But before anything, he stopped. He lifted Sally’s head all the way up off of his erection, a notable ‘pop’ sound as his cock was released from his mouth. Sally panted heavily, drool coating his chin and lips, as well as drool falling from his mouth a bit. 

 

God he was a mess. 

But to Larry, he looked like a fucking masterpiece. 

 

“C-Can I finish in your mouth?” Larry asked shyly, almost embarrassed by his own words. 

 

Sally let out a breathless, “Yeah,” before eagerly shoving Larry’s cock into his mouth again. 

 

“O-Oh! Jesus—Alright!” Larry was taken by surprise, the feeling of Sally catching him by surprise like that being almost enough to make him cum. 

 

Sally continued jacking himself off hard and fast, moaning continuously as Larry began thrusting his hips upwards once again. Larry gripped Sally’s hair tightly, moving his head up and down fast on his cock. He continued thrusting his cock into his throat, feeling as though he was going to lose himself any second. 

 

“F-Fuck, Sally, Fuck, fuck!” Larry gasped out. His thrusts began to grow messy, also losing the pace he’d kept on Sally’s head. He proceeded to just push his head all the way down, the entirety of his cock shoved into Sally’s mouth and throat. 

Larry couldn’t contain himself any longer. With one hand, he gripped hard on Sally’s hair. With the other, he clasped his hand around his own mouth, letting out a loud moan that he attempted to muffle with his hand. 

He came hard, his body shaking slightly from the pure ecstasy he was suddenly feeling. This pushed Sally over the edge, causing him to cum hard as well. He managed to catch most of his load in his hand, trying not to ruin the air mattress or the sleeping bag. 

Sally sat up quickly, closing his mouth and swallowing hard. Larry watched with wide eyes as he watched Sally swallow, Sally’s expression turning to that as if he’d eaten sour candy. 

 

“I… You good?” Larry asked, catching his breath. 

 

Sally finally opened his mouth, amounts of drool still coating his lips and chin. “Y-Yeah.” His voice was rough and hard. “S-Salty.” 

 

“Oh.” Larry couldn’t help but chuckle. “Alright, let’s get you cleaned up, handsome.” 

 

Larry carefully helped Sally sit down on the air mattress. He grabbed one of the towels from earlier, wiping off Sally’s hand with one end of the towel. With the other, cleaner, end of the towel, he wiped off Sally’s mouth and chin, as well as some of his neck and chest. 

 

“You drooled a lot.” Larry chuckled. Sally just smiled softly, exhausted from the fun they’d just had. 

 

“You must be tired, no witty comeback?” Larry asked him as he used the same towel to wipe off his own crotch area. 

 

“Yeah…” Sally whispered. 

 

Larry grabbed a bottle of water that was half-full, taking the cap off and handing it to Sally. Sally took the water, drinking a good amount before handing it back to Larry. Larry put the cap back on and set it next to Sally’s side of the bed. 

Carefully, Larry began to pull Sally’s hair out of the messy ponytails, placing the elastics back in the cosmetics bag above the head of the bed. 

 

“Want your pajamas? It’s getting a little cold.” Larry asked, gently cupping Sally’s cheek in his hand. 

 

Sally nodded softly in response. 

 

Larry looked around the tent in the darkness, accidentally grabbing one of his own shirts and giving it to Sally. It took a moment for Sally to realize how big this t-shirt was on him before realizing it was Larry’s. 

 

“This is yours.” Sally chuckled. 

 

“Oh, shit,” Larry began as he was looking for a pair of boxers and pajamas bottoms for Sally. “Let me find your shirt—” 

 

“It’s okay!” Sally giggled, looking at just how big the shirt was on him. “I like it..” 

 

“Heh, alright. Here, then.” Larry handed him a pair of boxers and pajama pants. 

 

“Thanks…” Sally’s voice was soft and sleepy. He proceeded to tug on his boxers and pajama pants to the best of his ability. Sally proceeded to lay down, only for him to be stopped by Larry. 

 

“One second, babe. Gotta brush your hair.” 

 

Sally whined in protest, but sat up a bit grumpily. “I’m exhausted, Lar…” 

 

“I know dude, but you’ll be pissed if your hair is a wreck tomorrow morning.” Larry had grabbed a hair brush, and held Sally close as he brushed his hair gently. Sally sat facing Larry, pressing his face to his chest and closing his eyes. He could practically fall asleep like this, the feeling of Larry brushing his hair so softly and lovingly lulling him to sleep. 

 

“I love you, Sally.” Larry pressed a kiss to the top of his head before placing the hairbrush to the side. 

 

“I love you too…” Sally replied. “Thank you for loving me, Larry…” 

 

Larry laid down, holding Sally close to him. He pulled the sleeping bag over them, Larry rolling onto his back. Sally nuzzled against Larry’s chest, staying close to him. 

 

“Thank you for letting me love you, Sally Face…” Larry replied, wrapping an arm around Sally. 

 

“Goodnight, Larry…” Sally’s words began to drift off as he quickly began to fall asleep. 

 

“Heh, night, Sally. See ya in the morning.” 


	13. It Feels Like It's Raining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things take a turn for the worst on the last day of the camping trip.

 

As the morning air crept through the thin tent walls, the early morning air fell against Larry’s exposed skin. As the brunette awoke, he shivered slightly. He sat up, looking next to him at the blue haired beauty who was sleeping hard. It was rare to see Sally in such a restful state— rarely was he ever not twitching or whining in his sleep. But right now, he was peacefully asleep. Larry wanted nothing more than to run his hands through that beautiful hair of his, or brush his hair behind his ear, or pepper his handsome and scarred face with kisses. He wanted to place soft kisses to his skin, and whisper sweet nothings into his ear. But right now, he chose to let him rest. 

It was rare that Sally was at peace, especially when he was asleep. That’s why Larry chose to let him rest. 

 

Larry had gotten up, tucking Sally in a bit more to make sure he stayed nice and warm. He proceeded to throw on some pajama pants, a T-shirt, and his flip-flops. With that, he headed out of the tent, zipping the tent up behind him as quietly as he could. 

 

Outside, he was met with Neil, Maple, and Soda. It appeared not everyone was awake yet, and those who were, were still pretty out of it. 

 

“Morning, Larry.” Neil began, looking up from the cup of coffee he’d poured for himself from the kettle. “Coffee?” 

 

“Morning. Coffee sounds great, yes please.” Larry took a comfortable seat in a chair next to Maple, who was currently seeming to doze off as Soda laid against her chest. It seemed as though since the day prior, Maple didn’t want to let Soda out of her sight. 

 

“Mmn… Morning, Larry.” Maple opened her eyes, looking over at Larry. 

 

“Heh, morning. You two slept well last night?” Larry reached over and ruffled Soda’s hair, who perked up at the touch. 

 

“Yeah. Chug is still dead asleep. But we slept pretty decent.” Maple ran a hand through her hair. 

 

“I went on adventure!” Soda grinned at Larry. 

 

“Yeah?” Larry raised an eyebrow. 

 

“What kind of adventure, Soda?” This seemed to be news to Maple as well.

 

“Adventure.” Soda giggled before pressing her face against her mother’s chest again, closing her eyes. 

 

“You weirdo.” Larry chuckled, messing up Soda’s hair once more. He then was given a cup of coffee from Neil, in which he gave a curt nod as to say ‘thank you’. He cautiously sipped the coffee, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. 

 

Neil took a seat in the chair next to Larry, leaning back and taking a long sip of his coffee. 

 

“So,” Neil began, resting the mug on his knee. Larry opened his eyes and looked over at Neil. “Seems like you had an eventful night last night.” 

 

Larry’s face instantly went red. He awkwardly looked away for a moment, leaning forward and clutching the mug in his hands. “I don’t know whatcha mean, dude.” Larry nervously chuckled. 

 

“You can’t pull the wool past my eyes, Larry.” Neil took another sip of his coffee. 

 

Larry just stared into his coffee mug, averting his eyes. 

 

Neil laughed, placing a kind hand on Larry’s back. “Listen, if you ever need any tips, just ask me, alright?” 

 

Larry looked up at Neil, and smiled slightly. “Uhh… Thanks, dude.” He chuckled. 

 

“I don’t even wanna know.” Maple kept her head back and her eyes closed, enjoying the morning to the best of her ability. 

 

\--

 

Time had passed, and the rest of the group, all but Sally, had woken up. Ash and Todd both sported a similar style of bedhead, Todd’s much messier than Ash’s. And once Chug was awake, all he could talk about was what was for breakfast. This morning was omelettes, but oatmeal for Ash and Soda. 

 

“It’s a personal thing. I just am not a fan of eggs.” Ash explained, opening up a plastic container of blueberries from the cooler. 

 

“How can you like nasty, wet oats but not like eggs?” Maple asked, sitting at the picnic bench and cutting up some ingredients for the omelettes. 

 

“I liked eggs when I was little…” Ash explained, dropping some of the blueberries into both hers and Soda’s bowls. “But the older I got, the less good they tasted.” 

 

“So what do you do for protein?” Chug asked. 

 

“I’ll still eat eggs, like in sandwiches and stuff? But otherwise, I’m actually a fan of tofu.” 

 

“You’ll eat tofu but not eggs!” Maple laughed. 

 

“Give her a break, guys.” Larry chuckled, holding Soda in his lap. 

 

“Larry, you’re one of the pickiest eaters out of everyone here.” Todd piped up. 

 

“I am not. Well… Since I met Ash and Sal. I had a pretty limited range of what I’d eat before I started going to the cafe and met them.” Larry admitted, smiling towards Ash. 

 

The conversation had quickly simmered down, and everything returned to being quiet. This feeling of calm was nice, comfortable and relaxing. It was nice taking a break from the city and their hectic lives. Quiet conversations carried out, such as Neil asking things of Maple as they made breakfast together, or Soda asking Larry a question or two as the curious toddler studied the trees and the world around them. 

 

Ash was the first to notice that Sally had woken up, because there was a noticeable rustling coming from the tent. The sound of the sleeping bag being moved around was the first thing that Ash had noticed, and the squeaking of the air mattress. In the early morning calm, most noises coming from the tent were audible from where the group was around the campfire. 

 

Larry set Soda down, allowing the little one to play around in the dirt, where she proceeded to pick up sticks and draw in the dirt with them. Larry prepared himself to stand up so he could greet Sally once he got up, knowing it would take him a moment before he’d be ready to ‘face’ the day. 

But the rustling from the tent suddenly became more aggressive. It sounded as if the sleeping bag was thrown completely to one side of the tent, and that the air mattress was pushed to the side. It sounded as if each duffle bag and backpack was being rummaged through, items being dumped out and pushed around. 

 

Ashley was the first to stop completely, turning her complete attention towards the noises coming from the tent. Larry followed in Ashley’s actions, furrowing his brow in confusion and worry. 

 

“Fuck…” Sally’s groggy voice could be heard. 

 

“Fuck..!” Sally repeated again, this time louder and more frustrated. 

 

Larry and Ashley looked at each other, Neil and Todd’s attention being caught as well. 

 

“Fuck!” Sally yelled, the sound of items being knocked over and thrown could be clearly heard. 

 

“Sally?” Larry stood completely now, waiting to approach the tent. 

 

“You good, bud?” Chug called out to Sally. 

 

“FUCK!” Sally finally yelled, his voice cracking as if he was beginning to sob. 

 

Larry quickly rushed over to the tent. Before he could even unzip the tent, it was unzipped by Sally with shaking hands. Sally burst out of the tent, barefoot, still in his pajamas, without his eye-- 

**And without his mask.**

 

Sally stood there, his chest heaving with his fists white knuckled in his hair. He looked around, feeling as though he was unable to breathe, think, function. He opened his mouth to scream, but only sobs escaped his lips. He looked up, his eye meeting with Larry’s as Larry looked at him with such concern. 

Sally looked around for a moment, seeing every single one of his friends staring at him without his mask. The only ones who’d ever seen him without the mask were Ash, Todd, and of course Larry. 

Chug looked away. 

And Maple looked away. 

Neil just looked at him with concern, as did Ashley and Todd. 

 

Sally continued to sob, attempting to speak but finding his words replaced with gasps. He felt like he was drowning on dry land, unable to process what was going on. The one thing that made him feel okay about himself, the one thing that helped him look in the mirror and recognize himself, his item of comfort, his item of safety— 

It was gone. 

He was never using his mask to hide behind it. He used his mask to show people who he really was, regardless of his past. 

Sally felt his knees buckling underneath him as he both gripped his hair and attempted to hide behind his blue locks at the same time. He closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head. Larry cautiously pulled Sally close to him, Sally instinctively pressing his face to Larry’s chest as he continued his tight hold on his hair. 

 

“Hey… Hey… You’re okay, alright? Breathe Sally, just breathe.” Larry rubbed Sally’s back gently, whispering to him. 

 

“M-My--” Sally began the beginning of his words, but was losing his breath as he did. 

 

“Where’d you last see you mask, Sal?” Larry asked, continuing to hold Sally close and comforting him the best he could. 

“T-Tent.” Sally managed to say. 

 

“And it’s not in there?” Larry wanted to make sure he understood the whole thing. 

 

“I-I che—cked.” Sally hiccupped. 

 

“Uncle Sawwy…?” Soda walked over, tugging at Sally’s pajama shirt. “What wrong Uncle Sawwy?” 

 

“Soda, not now sweetie.” Larry looked down at Soda, Sally pressing his face harder against Larry’s chest. 

 

“Mommy, what wrong wif Uncle Sawwy?” Soda asked her mother. 

 

“Soda…” Maple rushed over, picking up Soda and walking away with her to their tent. 

 

Sally stood with his face against Larry’s chest for a considerable amount of time, mentally cursing at himself for even leaving the tent in the first place. He usually felt so safe in Larry’s arms, but right now, nothing in the world could make him feel safe. Nothing could help him feel better. 

Nothing but that goddamn mask. 

 

\--

 

It had been a few hours of the group scouring the campsite, the dock, anywhere they could for the mask. They couldn’t figure out where it may have gone. Larry figured Sally could’ve dropped it on the way back to the tents from the lake the night prior, but that showed no luck. Larry had wondered if it had actually fallen into the water when they’d gone swimming, causing Larry to actually go swimming to look for it. Ash had joined in, and even if the water had been freezing, they’d both been willing to swim if it meant they’d find the mask. 

Unfortunately, that turned up nothing. 

 

Larry had returned from the lake and into the tent, Where Sally laid, curled up on the air mattress and facing the wall of the tent. 

 

“Hey…” Larry greeted softly as he entered the tent, making sure to zip up the tent behind him. 

 

The tent was a mess, considering that Larry had searched through everything a second time after Sally had. Currently, Larry was attempting to find a clean pair of boxers, and their dirty and clean clothes had gotten mixed up in the mess. 

 

“It’s warm in here,” Larry began, sorting through the pile of clothes. “Do you wanna sit outside for a while? It’s cooler outside.” 

No response. 

 

Larry looked to the side, feeling his attempt at positivity faltering. He found a clean pair of boxers and promptly changed out of his swim shorts and into the boxers. He sat down on the air mattress, looking down at Sally. 

Sally was curled in on himself, his knees at his chest and his hands in fists up near his face. He pressed his face to his hands, breathing softly. He was awake, Larry could see his eyes open. 

 

“It’s nice outside. The lake is cold, Ash and I just went in the lake and it’s still freezing.” Larry let out a soft chuckle. “I guess it’s still super cold, even during the day.” 

 

No response. 

 

Larry looked down at his hands in his lap, anxiously clasping his hands and rubbing his thumbs together. He glanced up, looking at the reusable water bottle with Sally’s eye in it. It had been knocked over during all of the chaos. Thankfully, the lid kept it from spilling out. Larry reached over, picking up the bottle and turning towards Sally. 

 

“Do you wanna put your eye in? It… Might help you feel a little better.” Larry suggested. 

 

No response. 

 

Larry began anxiously attempting to fill the silence with his words. 

“I mean— because you don’t have… your mask to maybe your eye—”

 

“What’s the fucking point?” Sally snapped. 

 

“Huh?” Larry was caught off guard by Sally’s words, unsure if he’d heard him correctly. 

 

Sally sat up, looking directly at Larry. He snatched the bottle from Larry’s hand, Looking at it and setting it down. “I said, what’s the fucking point?” 

 

“...I just figured it might make you feel—”

 

“What? Normal?” Sally cut him off. 

 

“Wha— No! I wasn’t going to say that…” Larry was suddenly taken aback by Sally’s demeanor change. He’d never seen him… Angry. He’d never seen him so hostile. 

 

“Look at me. With my face fucked up, might as well shove a piece of glass in my skull to make myself look more normal, yeah?” 

 

“Sally, I didn’t mean that—” 

Sally refused to let Larry get a word in. “I don’t want to fucking leave the tent, I don’t want to fucking put my eye in, I don’t want to fucking  _ breathe _ right now, Larry. I don’t want to fucking do this, anymore.” 

 

“...What?” Larry found himself at a loss for words, feeling his heart drop into his stomach. 

 

Sally softened for a moment, seeing how Larry suddenly looked like a kicked puppy. 

 

“I…” Sally began, looking away. “Just… Leave me alone, please.” Sally laid back down, facing the wall of the tent once more. 

 

Larry gathered up some semi-clean clothes, throwing on a Sanity’s Fall shirt and some jean shorts. As he put on a pair of socks and his sneakers, he stared at one of his bags. One of the anti-anxiety medications he’d taken had fallen out of the bag and was currently laying on the floor of the tent. 

He stared at the orange bottle with the white childproof cap, and how his name taunted him in big bold letters on the label. He stared at the pills in the bottle, suddenly feeling so weak and broken. He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, laced up his shoes, and left the tent. 

 

\--

 

Larry had been sitting out on the dock, a cigarette resting between his lips as he stared out at the water. His legs currently dangled off the end of the dock, the previous night’s actions playing on repeat in his head. But with that loop that was on continuous playback in his memory, the sound of Sally yelling at him drowned out the ‘I love you’’s and ‘I want you’’s. 

 

Larry’s hand clutched the fabric of his shirt. He tightened the hold on the cotton shirt as he closed his eyes tightly, his anxiety growing higher and higher the longer he was dwelling on Sally’s words. His stomach hurt, feeling like he was hungry and nauseated at the same time. He was completely without an appetite, and wanted nothing to do with basic human necessities at that moment. He hated this feeling— because it was familiar. 

 

It was the same feeling he’d held with him since his dad left. 

 

It was the fear of being alone, and the fear of losing the one he loved. 

 

He suddenly heard his phone ring, getting startled and almost dropping the cigarette out of his mouth. He pulled his phone out, slipping it open and seeing the name ‘Mom’ pop up on his phone screen. 

He cleared his throat, straightened up, and took the cigarette from his mouth. 

 

“Hey mom.” Larry attempted to sound as put together as possible. 

 

“Hey Larbear!” Lisa’s cheerful voice came through the phone. “How’s the camping trip? Having fun?” 

 

“Tons of fun.” It wasn’t a total lie, considering that up until this point, it had been pretty fun. 

 

“You don’t sound too excited, sweetie.” Lisa was always able to tell when Larry was down. 

 

“Oh, uhm…” Larry thought for a moment, taking a quick drag on the cigarette. “I’m just, tired. I went swimming earlier, it wore me out.” 

 

“Water must’ve been cold!” 

 

“Heh, it was.” 

 

Silence. 

 

“Larry, are you sure everything is alright?” 

 

…

 

“Mom?” Larry asked, staring at the water. 

 

“Yeah, sweetie?” 

 

“Why did dad leave?” 

 

…

 

Lisa was silent for a moment. Larry knew this wasn’t something they talked about. Even after he’d left, Lisa just went silent. Even when he’d spent days cleaning out every single one of his dad’s items from their apartment, even when his parent’s wedding anniversary or his dad’s birthday came and went, even the nights that felt the loneliest, they didn’t talk about it. 

 

“Why, honey?” Lisa finally spoke up. 

 

“Was it because of me?” Larry’s voice broke slightly. 

 

“Larry…” Lisa’s voice was soft, and almost too quiet to come through the phone speaker. 

 

“Was it because of me?” He asked again, his voice cracking completely. 

 

“You know that’s not why.” Her voice was firm in an attempt to ground him from these thoughts he was having. 

“Then why?” He was like a toddler, continuously asking the same question over and over. 

 

“I don’t know, Larry.” 

 

“That’s what you always say, mom.” It felt like it was beginning to rain. 

 

“Because it’s true. This isn’t a conversation we should be having on the phone, honey. Besides, you shouldn’t be worrying your head with these kinds of things, right now.” 

 

…

 

Radio silence. Pure silence. 

 

“I…” At that moment, Larry heard footsteps approaching him on the dock. “Dinner’s ready, Mom. I gotta go. I love you.” 

 

“Call me later, Larbear. I love you. Everything’s gonna be okay, sweetie.” 

 

Larry closed the phone, pocketing it and taking a long drag on the cigarette. He felt someone sit beside him, turning to see Ash. 

 

“You alright, Lar?” Ash asked, tilting her head to the side and placing a hand on his shoulder. 

 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” He lied through his teeth. 

 

“You’re… crying.” 

 

Larry’s eyes widened slightly as he brought a hand up to his cheek, feeling the wetness against his skin. 

“I… Guess I am.” 

 

\-- 

 

Sally didn’t eat dinner. He didn’t leave the tent, and he refused to get up. It was getting close to everyone calling it a night, a heavy mood over the group since they hadn’t found Sally’s mask yet, and it was nearing the end of the day. They also only had the campsite until tomorrow morning, as well. So if they didn’t find it tonight or the next morning, they knew they wouldn’t find it at all. 

 

Larry had been the last one sitting out by the fire. Ash had been sitting in the van with the back doors open, still awake with a small lantern on as she was reading a book. Maple and Chug were currently getting themselves and Soda ready for bed, Maple sitting at the opening of the tent, brushing her teeth and holding a bottle of water in her other hand. Neil and Todd were awake, but sitting in their tent and making a plan for how they’d go about packing everything up in the morning. 

 

Larry had been sitting, staring up at the stars. His head was drowning in his thoughts, overthinking being his main focus at the moment. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the tent unzipping was he snapped out of his thoughts. 

He saw Sally, his hair mainly covering most of his face, with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head. Sally didn’t look at Larry, but instead, just began walking off into the woods without a word. 

 

Larry’s mind started racing. 

_ ‘He’s going to hurt himself.’ ‘He hates you and he’s leaving.’ ‘This is the last time you’ll ever see him.’  _

All of these thoughts invaded his head, causing him to jump up quickly and run after Sally. He stumbled, falling onto his knees and cutting his shin on a sharp rock. 

“F-Fuck!” Larry inhaled through gritted teeth, standing up and continuing to run after Sally. He found him, standing and facing a tree. He felt the blood trickling down his shin, but completely ignored it. 

 

“Sally!” Larry exclaimed, slightly out of breath. 

 

Sally jumped, obviously startled. “Dude, the fuck?! I’m pissing right now!” 

 

“O-Oh.” 

 

“Jesus, dude. Privacy would be great.” Sally said under his breath, finishing up. He zipped up his pants, turning towards Larry. 

 

“What do you want?” Sally asked, obviously irritated. 

 

Sally’s words stung. “I…” Larry gathered his words. “I was worried, about you.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“Your mask… And… You’ve just been in the tent all day. Am I not allowed to worry about you?” Larry began to grow annoyed. 

 

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’m not a little kid. I’m not helpless.” Sally narrowed his eyes. 

 

“I’m going to worry about you because you’re my boyfriend, Sally. Why the fuck are you being like this?” Larry was exasperated at this point. 

 

“Because you’re treating me like some helpless little kid.” 

 

“I’m treating you like my partner! I’m supposed to fucking worry about you!” Larry suddenly raised his voice. 

 

“I can fucking take care of myself, Larry! I’ve been through so much shit, I’ve learned how to fucking take care of myself by now!” Sally spat, his hands in fists. 

 

“Do you not think I’ve been through shit too, Sally? I know what it feels like to feel—” Larry’s voice began breaking, “Feel like you’re so alone, and I don’t want you to fucking feel that way. Excuse me for fucking caring about my BOYFRIEND!” 

 

“You have no idea what I’ve been through. Don’t even begin to—” Sally was beginning to lose himself, unable to control what he was saying. 

 

Larry cut him off. “IT’S NOT A FUCKING COMPETITION!” He yelled, throwing his arms out to the side. 

 

Sally was silent, looking to the side and covering his face with his hands. He felt bad, guilt brewing within him. He didn’t know why he said what he said, but all he knew is that he was scared. 

 

“I’m done.” Sally muttered as he began walking away. 

 

Larry reached out, grabbing Sally’s arm. Instantly, Sally violently jerked his arm out of Larry’s hold, stumbling backwards and staring at him with raw anger. 

 

“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!” He screamed in his face. 

 

Larry stood, completely still. His eyes were wide, tears falling down his face as his body shook slightly. He’d never seen Sally so violent, so angry, so full of… hatred. He wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, or if he’d even done anything wrong in the first place. 

Sally covered his mouth with his hands, startling even himself with how he’d screamed. He just softly sobbed, his breathing heavy. 

 

“S-Sally…” Larry choked out, beginning to cry heavily. “I just… W-Want to help you…” 

 

“No..” Sally’s arms dropped to his sides as he turned away from him. “You’re trying to fix me.” And with that, Sally walked away. He left Larry, standing there, unmoving, and feeling like he was completely broken. 

 

\--

 

The following morning came with good news, but continuous heartache for the pair. Ashley had overheard the entire fight, deciding not to choose sides but let Larry share the air mattress in the van with her for the night. Larry was grateful. 

 

Sally’s mask had been found, no thanks to Soda herself. When it was found, it was covered in stickers and crayon drawings. Soda claimed she wanted to surprise her Uncle with his ‘Pretty new face’. Sally was mad, but chose to stay quiet and thank Maple and Chug for finding it. 

 

The morning continued with Larry and Sally avoiding and ignoring each other in every way, shape, and form. This caused slight pain in the rest of the group, watching as these once inseparable lovers were experiencing their first romantic hardship. 

 

As Larry had finished packing, he’d noticed that one of Sally’s medication bottles had fallen into his bag. He zipped up his bag, holding the stray pill bottle in his hand. As he exited the tent and threw his bag into the back of the van, he approached Sally, who was currently helping pack up the coolers. 

 

“Here.” Larry held the pill bottle out to Sally. 

 

This was the first thing Larry had said to Sally since the night before. 

 

“Oh.” Sally took the bottle, pocketing it. “Thanks..” 

 

“Mhm.” Larry turned, going to help Ashley with disassembling the tents. 

 

“Larry?” Sally called out, turning towards him. 

 

Larry stopped, turning around and looking at him without saying a word. 

 

“I’m… I’m sorry— I.. Last night, I…” Sally began to stumble over his words. 

 

“Not… Not now, Sally.” Larry just shook his head.

 

Sally stood there, just staring at him as he watched Larry turn away from him and walk away. He could feel his heart begin to shatter, his stomach and mind filled with violent and powerful guilt. 

 

He knew he fucked up. 

 

\--

 

The drive was even longer than it was the first time around, and it was painfully silent. The radio and Neil’s CD collection provided aid to the uncomfortable silences and the tension that made the air thick. Ashley had chosen to sit between Sally and Larry, mainly because she wanted to help avoid tension as much as she could. But unfortunately, it just made the fact that there was an issue between the two boys much more obvious. 

 

\--

 

Larry was dropped off at his apartment, Neil helping him grab his stuff out of the van. He’d waved a simple goodbye, his feet meeting the familiar pavement outside the place he called ‘home’. But right now, it felt nothing like home. As he unlocked the door and stepped into the stuffy apartment, he threw his bag down and locked the door behind him. 

He threw himself onto his mattress on the floor, shoes and all. He looked over at a cup next to his bed, probably full of week old paint water. 

 

As he stared at the cup, unmoving, unblinking, he felt as though color had been removed from his world, as if he was just a shell of who he once was. This was fucking painful. He curled in on himself, suddenly beginning to sob, his face twisting into an expression of bitter pain and sorrow. 

 

It fucking hurt. 

 

\--

  
  


\--

 

It had been roughly a week, and they still hadn’t spoken. Larry hadn’t left the apartment, and Sally hadn’t seen him once at work. Sally’s guilt and pain was eating away at him, every inch of his body filled to the brim with regret. 

He couldn’t stop hearing his own voice, his own screams that he lashed towards Larry. He couldn’t get the look on Larry’s face out of his head. He couldn’t stop fucking seeing the tears that rolled down Larry’s face, or the way he choked out his name. 

 

_ ‘I...Just want to help you…’ _ He’d hear Larry sob. His words were continuously stuck to Sally’s brain. He couldn’t sleep, he barely ate, he felt destroyed. 

 

Finally, one day after work as he sat in the backyard of his home, Sally worked up the nerve to call Larry. 

 

It rang continuously, then went to voicemail.  _ ‘Yo, It’s Larry. Leave a message or whatever, and I’ll talk to you later.’  _

 

Sally hung up, calling him once more. 

…

…

_ ‘Yo, It’s Larry. Leave a message or whatever, and I’ll talk to you later.’  _

 

Frustrated, he called again. 

…

...

 

_ ‘Yo, It’s Larry. Leave a mess--’  _

 

Sally hung up, trying once more. 

 

This time, it immediately went to voicemail. 

_ ‘Yo, It’s Larry. Leave a message or whatever, and I’ll talk to you later.’  _

 

He’d must’ve turned the phone off. Sally immediately stood up, looking at the phone. Out of habit, he called one more time. 

 

Immediate voicemail. 

 

Something was wrong. 

 

And he knew it. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me.
> 
>  
> 
> I promise everything will be okay... Eventually. 
> 
> Love & Pixels,  
> Scout


	14. Sacramento & Swing Sets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally finds that Larry has left Oregon, and attempts to find him in order to fix things and hopefully fix their relationship.

 

A storm was brewing over Portland, Oregon. The thick grey clouds in the sky rumbled as they nestled together, promising rain. As a looming humidity hung in the air, creating a heavy blanket of tension, another storm was brewing. This storm, was inside the mind of Sally Fisher. Sally’s keys jumbled around in his anxious hands, his body shaking and his heart pounding in his chest. 

 

_ ‘He didn’t answer. _ ’ He kept thinking to himself, thoughts racing through his head.  _ ‘He usually picks up. This feels bad. This feels wrong…’ _

 

Weeks ago, Larry had given Sally a key to his apartment. This was to make sure that Sally could let himself in after work, especially if Larry was in the middle of a painting or in the shower or out doing anything else. There’d been times where Larry had come home to find Sally, sitting on his kitchen counter, eating his snacks. Larry would always do the same actions as if they were choreographed— where he’d drop his satchel in the entryway, shut the door behind him with his foot and make his way over to Sal; where he’d snake his arms lovingly around Sal’s waist and begin to litter playful kisses all over his neck and collar bones. 

 

As Sally shoved the key into the lock, turning it and opening the door, his body ached at how much he missed Larry. 

 

Dark. 

 

The entire apartment was completely dark, the blackout curtains pulled, not a single light on, not even the TV or the small light of Larry’s phone charging or the bathroom light shining under the door. The entire apartment was cold, showing that there was no activity in here at all, and it smelled… absent. As Sally flipped on the lightswitch in the entryway and looked around, there was not a single sign of life in this apartment. 

 

As he stepped inside, he found that there was a considerable amount of Larry’s art supplies gone, as well as a majority of Larry’s clothes and other small belongings. There was a small sketch book left on the coffee table, worn and tired looking, as if it had been mishandled. As Sally’s footsteps echoed against the hardwood of the empty apartment, he took a seat on the couch, looking around. 

 

He observed the sketchbook quietly, his blue eyes looking over the small item. He reached down, his hands still shaking slightly. The cover was torn slightly, a piece missing from the upper corner. He looked over his shoulder, knowing that he shouldn’t be snooping through his significant other’s personal belongings, but morality wasn’t necessarily at the front of his brain at the moment. 

 

Sally flipped open the sketchbook to see messy drawings, both in pen and pencil. Along these pages were sketchy humanoid figures in distressing poses or with grotesque facial expressions. Graffiti style lettering would occasionally surround one of them, or items like pills or pill bottles would be drawn out and exaggerated on the pages. Words like “Anxiety” or “Coward” or “Fear” or “Worry” would be scrawled out in artistic manners, and it would occasionally look like the figures would be impaled or strangled by these words. 

 

As Sally’s eyebrows drew together with worry, realizing that he’d found the sketchbook that Larry must’ve taken out his emotions on, he came to the last page that had been drawn on. Sally froze completely, looking at the sketch. 

 

Crafted in graphite lay a drawing of a person on his knees, slumped forward. Arrows pierced the back of the person, and large words sat in big, bold letters, looming above the figure:

 

‘ **YOU’RE TRYING TO FIX ME’** . 

 

Sally promptly closed the sketch book, shaking his head quickly and pulling his knees up to his chest as he sat on the couch. 

 

It was obvious Sally had fucked up, because quite frankly, it was his first real relationship that wasn’t a mess. All his life, it was hard to open up to people about the shit he’d been through. Of course there were nights where Sally and Larry had finished an entire joint in 30 minutes and proceeded to cuddle and stare at the ceiling, and Sally would tell stories of when he was a kid and some of the shit he’d been through. Larry would always be supportive, and tell small bits and pieces about his own past, whether it was about his dad leaving, or getting diagnosed with anxiety, or just getting bullied in school. 

 

They both had their own problems they shared in the form of stories and soul-searching talks. Sally didn’t understand why he’d been so frustrated and upset when all Larry was trying to do was help him. Because at this moment, Sally had finally realized: Someone trying to help you doesn’t mean they’re trying to fix you. 

 

Sally needed to apologize to Larry, but the first step was figuring out where the fuck he was. 

 

\-- 

 

“Ash.” Sally walked into the coffee shop, the door chiming behind him. He was met with his coworker, Phillip, a young man with short blue hair and pierced ears with a red shirt, standing at the counter. 

 

“Phillip, where’s Ash?” Sally asked, placing his hands on the counter. 

 

“I-In the back? Where’s the fire, Sally?” Phillip seemed concerned and confused to see Sally being so assertive. 

 

“Thanks.” Sally went behind the counter, walking into the back to find Ashley digging through her locker as she had finished up her shift. “Ash.” 

 

“Jesus!” Ashley jumped, turning towards Sally. “Where did you come from?! You scared me, Sal.” Ash chuckled breathlessly. 

 

“Where’d Larry go?” 

 

Ashley went quiet, staring at Sally with her bright green eyes before quickly turning back to her locker. “I don’t know what you mean.” 

 

“You’re a horrible liar.” 

 

Ashley began to sweat. She was now aimlessly looking through her locker, but Sally pushed himself in front of her and stood in between her and it. Ashley diverted her eyes from Sally and took a step back. 

 

“I don’t know where Larry is.” 

 

“Yes you do.” Sally crossed his arms. 

 

“Even if Larry happened to leave, why would he tell me where he was going?” Ashley cocked an eyebrow at the shorter man. 

 

“Because even when he leaves his apartment just for the day, he lets us know where he’s going. And if I’m busy, he tells you. And I don’t think he really wants to talk to me right now. So where is he, Ash?” Sally narrowed his eyes at her. 

 

“F-Fine!” Ashley exclaimed, throwing her hands up and exhaling hard. “He went home.” 

 

“Home…? He’s not upsta--” 

 

“No. Like… Home, with his mom.” Ashley looked to the side, rubbing the back of her neck. 

 

“Which is where, exactly?” Sally asked. 

 

“...Sacramento.” 

 

Sally paused. “Like… In California?” 

 

“Yes, in California. You didn’t know he’s from there?” Ashley tilted her head to the side. 

 

“I guess… I never asked.” Sally’s face grew red from embarrassment. 

 

“And you two have been dating for how long?” 

 

“Shut up.” 

 

Ashley stifled a cuckle, earning a gentle punch to the arm from Sally. Sally just sighed, turning away. 

 

“Do you mind covering my shifts for the next few days?” Sally asked. 

 

“What? Why?” Ashley replied. 

 

“Because I’m apparently going to fucking Sacramento.” 

 

\-- 

 

Sally had just grabbed the first backpack he could find, stuffing it with a clean t-shirt, some boxers, all of his medications and the other medical things he needed. After grabbing his headphones and iPod, he knew he was set. He laced up his worn out sneakers, looking over to the half-assed note he’d written for Neil and Todd that sat on the kitchen table. The note read nothing more than, ‘going to california, be back in a few days, dont do anything stupid -sal’. 

 

Sally was currently walking quietly to the bus station, staring at the sky occasionally at the clouds promised rain but never delivered. He’d been focusing on his feet on the sidewalk, stopping when he came to a crosswalk. He looked up at the sign, currently red to let him know it wasn’t time to cross. But as he looked up, he realized someone was next to him. 

 

“Fisher.” Said the familiar voice, stinging at his skin. 

 

“Being formal now, are we Travis?” Sally responded. 

 

Next to him was currently Travis Phelps— blond haired bastard, Travis Phelps. Jesus freak, Travis Phelps. Signature bully, Travis Phelps. 

 

“Maybe I have to be formal.” Travis shoved his hands in his pockets, still in his uniform from work. He’d obviously run into Sally on his walk home from work, and decided to use this time to torment him. “You won’t give me the time of day otherwise.” 

 

“Ever consider that maybe I just don’t like you?” Sally replied, obviously not in the mood for any of Travis’s bullshit. 

 

This struck a chord in Travis, as he obviously began to grow angry. He balled his hands into fists, looking at Sally with anger when Sally wouldn’t even look over at him. 

“That’s not what your mouth said during Junior year,  _ Sally Face _ .” 

 

Sally froze. He wanted nothing more than for this crosswalk light to change already. He tightened his grip on his backpack straps, shaking his head slightly. 

 

“Fuck off, Travis.” 

 

_ “Make me.” _ The words fell out of Travis’s mouth like a snake’s hiss, invoking some type of emotion in Sally that had completely set him off. 

 

Sally quickly turned towards Travis, landing one harsh punch against the blonde’s jaw. Travis let out a yelp, stumbling backwards, his hands instinctively flying up to cover his face from any more blows to the face. Back in high school, Travis wouldn’t have hesitated to land a hit on Sally at any given moment. But in their Junior year, Sally changed something in Travis’s heart, that the idea of hurting him physically pained him. 

 

“Can’t you just fuck off for one second?!” Sally yelled at Travis, steadying himself as he shook his hand at his side, his knuckles now hurting. 

 

Travis was silent, and the crosswalk light changed. Sally just glared angrily at him, proceeding to cross the street, refusing to look back. Sally continued to make his way down the sidewalk, but shortly after heard the sound of footsteps running after him. 

 

“S-Sally Face!” Travis yelled, catching up to him, out of breath. 

 

“What the fuck do you want now?” Sally continued walking, staring straight ahead. 

 

“Sally, wait.” Travis pleaded. 

 

Sally continued walking. 

 

“Blue!  _ Wait! _ ” Travis cried. 

 

Sally froze in his tracks, Travis’s signature nickname for him in highschool suddenly paining him to hear. He turned around, looking at him. He looked at Travis, who was currently doubled over slightly, out of breath, his hands resting on his thighs. 

 

“Sally— I’m still in love with y—” 

Sally instantly cut him off. “I don’t-- I don’t care, Trav. I told you so many years ago and I will tell you again; You will never get a second chance after what you did.” Sally’s voice began to shake, feeling tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. 

_ ‘Why did this have to come up now?! Why did this have to happen now of all times?!’ _ Sally thought to himself. 

 

“I’m sorry… I can’t stop thinking about you, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I saw you at my work the other day! Especially with that… That loser! The way you were on him, I just, got so jealous!” Travis’s words began spilling out to the point where he wasn’t able to control himself. 

 

“You don’t own me anymore. So you have no reason to be jealous.” Sally narrowed his eyes at him. “And he’s not a fucking loser. He’s my boyfriend. And I fucking love him. You hear me? I’m fucking in  **love** with Larry Johnson, and you can absolutely fuck right off. You’re not in my life anymore, and stop fucking trying to be!” Sally yelled at him, his voice breaking. Sally instantly turned around and walked away, stopping one more time as Travis called out to him one more time. 

 

“Sal— where are you going?” 

 

“To fix shit. Because unlike you, I fucking care about the wellbeing of the person I love. Goodbye, Travis.” 

 

And with that, Sally continued on his way. 

 

\-- 

 

Sally hadn’t anticipated how long the bus ride would actually be. He’d done road trips before, the longest ever being when him and his dad moved to Oregon from New Jersey, which took a whole four days including stops. But with his anxiety constantly rising, he was barely able to think straight. 

 

He was currently on hour 6 of the 12 hour bus ride, knowing very well it would be nighttime by the time he’d get there. Was he nervous about going to a new city in a new state at night that had a pretty high crime rate? Sure. Was that the biggest of his concerns? Absolutely not. 

As he was attempting to come up with a plan of just exactly how he was going to find Larry’s address, he recalled a phone call he’d had with Ash just a few hours ago. 

 

_ “I don’t know his address, Sal. I only know where he was going.” Ash had told him.  _

 

_ “You better not be fucking with me, because I’m already on the bus there.” Sally replied.  _

 

_ “I’m not. Look, I’ll have Todd do some online searches, okay? I don’t know what he’ll be able to find, though.” _

__

_ “That’s fine. Just, call me back when you have the information, okay?” Sally sighed.  _

 

_ “ _ **_If_ ** _ we have the information. There’s no guarantee Todd will find anything.”  _

 

Sally was beginning to feel hopeless. He flipped open his cellphone again, hoping and praying to see a text or a missed call or anything from Larry— but his heart fell as he saw no new notifications on his screen. He sighed, leaning his head against the window and closing his eyes. 

 

He just hoped that everything was going to be okay. 

 

\--

 

“Sacramento!” Called the bus driver, opening the doors. Multiple people got up, grabbing their bags and items as they all made their way off the bus. 

 

Sally thanked the bus driver, stepping out into the humid night air. It was certainly warmer here, and it was much later in the day. He flipped open his phone as soon as he stepped off the bus, stretching as he checked the time. 10:51 PM. 

 

The next thing Sally did was step over to a phone booth, grabbing the phone book inside and flipping open the pages. He’d managed to remember Larry’s mom’s name, which was Lisa. He flipped to the list, getting frustrated at the amount of Lisa Johnson’s there were in Sacramento. He proceeded to look at lists of Larry Johnson’s, managing to match the one address that both a Lisa and Larry Johnson shared in common. 

 

Sally had hailed a cab, and made his way to the address he’d found. 

 

\-- 

 

It was dark out, and currently about 11:45 PM by the time the cab had dropped him off in front of a small little house in a not-so-great neighborhood. The front lawn seemed well taken care of, and the exterior of the house seemed well maintained as well. It seemed like a home made of love. The lights inside seemed to be on, and through the living room window, there seemed to be a television on. He hoped he had the right house as he approached the door, knocking on it three times. 

It took some time, but the door opened. Sally was greeted by a Hispanic woman, about 5’7’’, with long brown hair and features similar to Larry’s. She seemed to have a warm, welcoming smile, even if she saw Sally as a complete stranger. 

 

“Oh! Goodness, honey you startled me!” she laughed, placing a hand on her chest. “Can I help ya?” 

 

“I… Are you Lisa?” Sally asked. 

 

“Why yes I am. Who might you be?” 

 

“I’m Sally— Sally Fisher. I’m—” 

 

“My Larry’s boyfriend.” Lisa smiled warmly, stepping to the side and welcoming him into the house. “Come on in. I don’t think he was expecting you, but I think he’ll be surprised to see you came all this way for him.” 

 

“Thank you..” Sally stepped in, taking off his shoes. “I’m just glad I found the right house.” Sally expressed, feeling a wave of relief coming over him. “How did you know who I am..?”

 

“I’ve heard a lot about you, honey. I’m assuming you came here to talk to him? You must’ve been worried sick. I saw him turn off his cellphone when you called.” Lisa said, walking over to the small kitchen. “Can I get you anything?” 

 

Sally chuckled awkwardly. “Pretty much. And, no thank you. But if you don’t mind, I’d really like to talk to Larry… where is he?” Sally asked, looking around. 

 

“Oh, if I had to guess, he’s probably in his room. Go head on in there.” 

 

Sally set his backpack down by his shoes by the door, thanking Lisa one more time before walking over to the door that Lisa pointed to. He knocked a few times, getting no response. Finally, he just opened the door, walking in. He looked around, seeing no sign of Larry, but he did see a side door that lead to a bathroom, which was open. He heard music coming from the bathroom, typical sad punk rock stuff. 

 

As he walked through the bedroom, he looked at different metal posters and such that were tacked up to the walls, seeing Larry’s childhood room for the first time. 

 

Sally walked over to the bathroom, his heart feeling so much lighter as he saw Larry, (fully clothed), sitting in the empty bathtub. His focus was currently on his Nintendo DS, seeming like he was really into the game he was playing. 

 

Sally knocked on the doorframe as he looked at Larry. 

 

“I already turned down my music mom I don’t--” Larry began, suddenly looking up and dropping his DS in shock and surprise as he saw Sally. His eyes went wide as he sat up slightly, unable to find any words. 

 

“Did I surprise you..?” Sally chuckled slightly. 

 

“Uh..” Larry couldn’t help but feel like he was dreaming. “Yeah, sorta.” 

 

“Sorry.” 

 

Larry couldn’t figure out what to say. 

 

Sally stood there awkwardly as they just stared at each other. Finally, Sally sighed. “Move your legs.” 

 

Larry brought his legs up to his chest slightly, Sally climbing into the bathtub, sitting across from him. Larry closed his DS, watching Sally as he took his mask off and set it on the floor next to the tub. 

 

“Are you really here right now?” Larry asked, wrapping his arms around his knees. 

 

“In the flesh.” Sally shrugged.

 

“But that’s like a…” 

 

“12 hour bus ride? I know.” Sally finished Larry’s sentence, “But when you turned your phone off and ignored me like that, I didn’t really have much of a choice.” 

 

Larry looked down to the side, suddenly beginning to feel pretty bad. But before he could begin to beat himself up, Sally stopped him from the mental path he was about to go down. 

 

“But, I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you at all, Lar. And I’m actually… surprised that you’re letting me sit here with you right now. But… I guess what I’m trying to say is— we… need to talk.” Sally’s voice was quiet and heavy. 

 

Larry felt his breath hitch in his throat. “A-alright.” Larry nodded. “Do you… want to go for a walk?” 

 

“I could stretch my legs, yeah.” 

 

The boys had removed themselves from the empty bathtub, Sally putting his mask back on and Larry slipping on some sandals. Larry grabbed a pack of cigarettes off his nightstand in his room, and both boys had left the house and made their way outside onto the sidewalk. As Larry started walking, it seemed as though he knew where he was going. 

 

The shorter man followed the tall brunette, watching his sharp features grow illuminated in the night by the flame of his lighter flicking to life. Larry had lit a cigarette that he’d placed in between his lips, a parallel to one of the first moments that Sally had felt his heart flutter for this man. 

 

Before Sally could even reach out, Larry had stopped on the sidewalk, pulling another cigarette from the pack and handing it to Sally. Sally nodded as a ‘thank you’, lifting his mask slightly, placing the cigarette between his lips. Larry brought the lighter up, promptly lighting it for him without a word. They continued to walk. 

 

Larry had shoved a hand in his pocket, looking ahead of him as he walked. 

 

There was an uncomfortable silence. 

 

“There’s more stars in Oregon. More in Washington, up at the lake,” Larry mused.

“You’re right. I can barely see a single star here.” Sally looked up at the night sky, holding his cigarette between his fingers. 

 

More silence. 

 

“Sal…” Larry finally spoke up. He’d stopped walking, and Sally only realized it when he no longer felt Larry next to him. He turned around, seeing him a few feet away from him. 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

“You said you wanted to talk… and I really can’t take the suspense any longer.” Larry was growing more and more anxious by the minute. 

 

Sally stood there, attempting to form a response. He parted his lips, wanting to speak, wanting to desperately talk,  _ wanting to fix everything. _ But he just couldn’t find the words. 

 

“I just, I just need a second to think, okay?” Sally explained, running a hand through his hair. 

 

“I… fine, I understand.” Larry sighed. He proceeded to start walking again, both boys quiet as Larry seemed to have a plan of where they were going. It wasn’t before long that they’d come to a park with a small playground, which was completely empty and devoid of anyone else. 

 

Larry approached a small swing set, sitting down on one of them. He took a long, hard drag on the cigarette, running a shaking hand through his hair. Sally stood in front of Larry, a few feet away from him. He could tell how frustrated Larry was, and Sally didn’t blame him. But before Sally could say anything to calm him, Larry stood up from the swing set and stared Sally dead in the eyes. 

 

“If you’re going to break up with me, just fucking do it already.” Larry snapped, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. 

 

Sally instinctively took a step back, startled by Larry’s sudden statement. “Lar… I—Larry, do you really fucking think I would come  _ all the way  _ from Oregon to break up with you?” 

 

“I don’t know! I apparently don’t know jack shit about you, Sal. One second you want everything to do with me, and the next, you want nothing to do with me. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?!” Larry began to go off. 

 

“Wha— That’s not it at all!” Sally protested. 

 

“Then tell me what it is you want?!” 

 

Sally paused. He took a hard drag on the cigarette before throwing it on the ground and crushing it under his sneaker. He placed his hands behind his head, beginning to lose his cool. “I just— don’t want you to try and fix me!” 

 

“I’m not trying to fix you! I’m trying to  _ help you _ . There’s a difference.” 

 

“Sometimes you can’t even help me! Sometimes—” Sally looked around. Not a single person other than Larry was in sight. Sally instantly slipped his mask off, letting it sit on the top of his head. Thick tears were forming in his eyes. “Sometimes you just have to let me be sad.” 

 

“Why would I ever want to let you just be sad? I— I can help you, Sal!” Larry exclaimed, exhaling with a near-hysteric chuckle. 

 

“You can’t! Sometimes you just can’t! I’m not just some fucking broken puzzle you can put the pieces back in and make it perfect again. You. Cannot. Fix. Me.” 

 

Larry shook his head. “I fucking hate seeing you hurt. When you lost your mask, when you were so fucking detroyed, I wanted nothing more than to help you, and you pushed me away.”    
  


“That’s because I was—” 

 

Larry cut him off. “Let me finish,  **please.** ” 

 

Sally just stared at him, tears silently rolling down his cheeks. He nodded, obliging to let Larry speak. 

 

“Do you know how much it hurts me to see you hurt? Because it fucking hurts  _ a lot _ . I’m.. I’ve never been good, with emotions, or relationships, or other people. I’ve  _ never  _ been good at people! I’ve never been good at talking, or existing, or even just being around others. Until you, and Ash, and Todd, and everyone else, until I moved to Portland, it was just me, and my mom. Where’s my Dad you may ask? Well, even he was fucking fed up with me, and he  **fucking left.** ”

 

“Larry— You know your dad leaving is not your fault.” Sally attempted to ground Larry a bit, seeing how heated he was growing. 

 

“You think I don’t try to tell myself that every fucking night? You think I try to erase the memories of my mom crying herself to sleep, or my mom asking me to put all of his stuff in a place where she’d never have to see it? How about how many extra jobs she had to take, because she wanted make sure we were able to keep a roof over our head after he fucking left? Life wasn’t all fucking sunshine and rainbows, dude. It wasn’t fucking great.” 

 

“I know that… But it’s not your fault, it was never your fault..” Sally looked to the side, then back at Larry. “What are you getting at here, exactly?” 

 

“I grew up thinking I could fix things. I wanted to fix what my dad broke. I wanted to fix my mom’s heart.” Larry was shaking at this point, a stray tear escaping his eye. 

 

“Lar…” Sally couldn’t help but reach out to him. At this point, Sally stepped forward, placing a hand on Larry’s arm. 

 

“I just—I just wanted to help…” Larry choked out through heavy breaths. 

 

“I know… and I was wrong to push you away like I did. I took out my fear on you, and I should have never done that. You were only trying to help and, it was wrong of me to hurt you.” Sally squeezed Larry’s arm tightly. Larry sighed, placing a hand on Sally’s cheek, cupping his face for a moment. 

 

Larry proceeded to sit down on the swing again, placing the cigarette back between his lips. He held onto the chains on either side of, staring at the ground. Sally took a seat on the empty swing next to him, sitting with his hands in his lap. He stared at his hands, then closed his eyes for a moment. 

 

“I’m not going to break up with you. I have literally zero intentions of leaving you.” Sally began. 

 

Larry exhaled hard. “That’s good.” 

 

“Is it my turn to talk for a while?” Sally asked. 

 

“Go for it. I think I’m burnt out.” Larry sighed. 

 

“Lar… I love you, and I mean it when I say that. And we’ve been around each other long enough to know that we’re both fucked up in our own ways. I mean, fuck, we both have the medicine cabinets to prove it… what I’m getting at here, is that sometimes, I’ll have problems or you’ll have problems, and we’ll wanna fix the other’s problems.” 

 

Larry’s hands tightened on the swing chains as he avoided looking in Sally’s direction. 

 

 Sally continued, “But… sometimes you just  _ can’t _ . It’s unfortunate. I know you’d give the world to fix your mom’s heart, and I know you’d do anything to fix me, too… I know you love me, I see your efforts. I see you, okay? I see you, and I appreciate you, and I really adore everything you do for me.” 

 

“You really see me?” Larry softly asked. 

 

“I do. And every day I wake up knowing you’re in my life, I’m really thankful. So when I started waking up without you after we got back from Washington, I knew I’d fucked up.” Sally rubbed the back of his neck. “But sometimes, we just can’t fix each other. Sometimes, we just have to understand that it’s okay to be sad, or fucked up, or broken. Because it’s human. It’s a human thing.” 

 

Larry nodded as he listened intently. 

 

“Because no matter how much of that love, or support, or effort you put in, it’s not going to get rid of what broke me in the first place…what matters is… that you’re still there. And that I get to wake up, knowing you’re in my life. Because when panic subsides, and everything goes back to normal or whatever, that we’re still together and safe.” 

 

“You should write a self help book or something, dude.” Larry smiled a bit. 

 

“Ash, actually told me most of this a long time ago. I was getting over some really bad shit with a really bad person. She told me that a relationship relies on communication, support and care.” Sally looked over at Larry. 

 

Larry’s eyes met Sally’s. “I think I understand.” 

 

Sally reached out, his hand open in between them. Larry let go of the chain swing, grabbing Sally’s hand and holding it tightly. Larry lovingly rubbed his thumb along the back of Sal’s hand. 

 

“So…” Larry began. “Essentially, it's the staying, not the fixing, that really makes us feel like we're finally worth something?” 

 

“Exactly.” Sally smiled warmly at Larry. 

 

There was a comfortable silence. Both boys looked lovingly into each other’s eyes, slowly beginning to feel the heaviness and tension of everything melting away. 

 

“I’m sorry I ran off to Sacramento and turned my phone off.” Larry laughed. 

 

“I’m sorry I was a prick to where I caused you to run off to Sacramento and turn your phone off.” Sally chuckled, getting a good smile out of Larry. 

 

Larry stood up, standing in front of Sally. Sally continued to sit on the swing, looking up at Larry. Larry held onto the swing chains, leaning down, and placing a gentle kiss on Sally’s lips. Sally kissed him back softly, leaning up into the kiss. 

 

\--

 

With tears dried and gentle kisses exchanged, the pair walked in the warm summer night along the sidewalk for a while. They had decided to stop at a convenience store by Larry’s house, grabbing a couple of sodas and some well deserved snacks. 

The walk back to the house was quiet, and when they returned, the house was quiet with all of the lights off in the main part of the house. A lone light was turned on by the kitchen sink, with a plate of fresh cookies set out with a note next to it in Lisa’s handwriting. Larry approached the plate and the note, reading his mother’s cursive handwriting.

The note read:

 

_ ‘Larry, Sally, I hope everything is alright. Remember, the heart is already so heavy, so let’s try to fill our hearts with love, not anger. See you in the morning. Love, Mom.’  _

 

Larry smiled at the note, feeling Sally come up next to him. Sally read the note as well, smiling softly under mask. He stood cautiously next to Larry, still feeling almost as if he was somewhat undeserving of being with him at that moment. Through all the pain he’d caused Larry, and all the tears that had been shed and the emotions expressed and—

 

Larry wrapped his arms around Sally, pulling him close. Larry pressed his face down against the top of Sally’s head. Slowly, Sally reached up, wrapping his arms around Larry, gripping the fabric of his T-shirt tightly. Sally closed his eyes, inhaling and taking in Larry’s presence as one single thought now outweighed all of his others: 

Everything was going to be okay. 

 

At this moment, as they stood in the dim light of the kitchen, next to a loving handwritten note and a plate of cookies that Larry’s mother had made; As Sally stood in Larry’s embrace, Sally holding onto his shirt as if he’d fall through the earth if he let go; As tears silently ran down Sally already tear-stained cheeks; and as he listened to Larry softly whisper, “I love you”, his words muffled by Sally’s hair, 

Sally knew it was going to be okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEARING WITH ME AAAAAAAA  
> I'm currently working a lot, and taking summer classes at the same time, going to conventions, and I had my younger cousin living with me for a month. So between all that, I've had ZERO time for my true love, DPW. But! I'm here! And hopefully I helped y'all feel a little better after that painful angst chapter I wrote last time :")
> 
> Also, a huge thank you and shout out to user P5eud0Nym to allowing me to take inspiration and a few lines from a comment they left on my chapter "Mental Health Obligations". That comment not only helped me write out Sally's monologue, but also helped me in my own mental health endeavors as well ;u; so thank you. 
> 
> ALSO   
> PLEASE PLEASE PLEAAAASE go follow @skrrtskin and @Branum787 on Instagram! They did a phenomenal Dirty Paint Water cosplay of Sally & Larry and I'm absolutely so blessed!! Like I cried they had the paintings that Larry did of Sal and they spilled water on the pages and everything and i just-- HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  
> Okay enough of me being a big baby. 
> 
> I love you all! See you all on the flip side <3  
> Love & Pixels,   
> Scout


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